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Nova Scotia Nurse Pay Rates
Nursing pay in Nova Scotia, Canada — the current wage grid, shift & weekend premiums and allowances
Collective Agreement
Collective Agreement between Nova Scotia Health Authority and The Nova Scotia Council of Nursing Unions, November 1, 2020 – October 31, 2025
Expired 31 Oct 2025 — continues in force while bargaining
AnnualHourly
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Roles & Wages
| Role | Pay Point | Nov 2024 |
|---|---|---|
Registered Nurse (RN-2) RN-2 Staff nurse. | Start | $40.55 $79,079.13 / yr |
| Year 1 | $41.72 $81,357.32 / yr | |
| Year 2 | $43.04 $83,920.59 / yr | |
| Year 3 | $44.50 $86,771.49 / yr | |
| Year 4 | $46.01 $89,720.86 / yr | |
| Year 5 | $47.58 $92,786.07 / yr | |
| Year 6 | $48.77 $95,105.79 / yr | |
| Year 7 | $49.99 $97,483.43 / yr | |
| Year 25 | $51.74 $100,895.34 / yr | |
Graduate Nurse (RN-1) RN-1 A graduate nurse with a conditional licence, paid RN-1 until fully licensed. | Start | $35.06 $68,358.03 / yr |
Registered Nurse (RN-3) RN-3 For example clinical leader, diabetes educator, discharge planner or head nurse. Which jobs sit at RN-3 varies by former health authority. | Start | $41.58 $81,087.44 / yr |
| Year 1 | $42.75 $83,365.43 / yr | |
| Year 2 | $44.07 $85,929.29 / yr | |
| Year 3 | $45.53 $88,780.19 / yr | |
| Year 4 | $47.04 $91,728.97 / yr | |
| Year 5 | $48.65 $94,864.38 / yr | |
| Year 6 | $49.86 $97,235.78 / yr | |
| Year 7 | $51.11 $99,666.84 / yr | |
| Year 25 | $52.90 $103,155.2 / yr | |
Registered Nurse (RN-4) RN-4 For example clinical leader, patient care leader, shift supervisor or critical care resource nurse. Which jobs sit at RN-4 varies by former health authority. | Start | $42.61 $83,095.55 / yr |
| Year 1 | $43.78 $85,373.93 / yr | |
| Year 2 | $45.10 $87,937.4 / yr | |
| Year 3 | $46.56 $90,788.49 / yr | |
| Year 4 | $48.07 $93,737.67 / yr | |
| Year 5 | $49.71 $96,943.08 / yr | |
| Year 6 | $50.96 $99,366.73 / yr | |
| Year 7 | $52.23 $101,850.84 / yr | |
| Year 25 | $54.06 $105,415.64 / yr | |
Registered Nurse (RN-5) RN-5 Community health nurse, community mental health nurse or clinical nurse therapist. | Start | $47.48 $92,586.2 / yr |
| Year 1 | $49.14 $95,815.4 / yr | |
| Year 2 | $50.80 $99,058.44 / yr | |
| Year 3 | $52.46 $102,301.49 / yr | |
| Year 4 | $54.26 $105,806.22 / yr | |
| Year 5 | $55.62 $108,451.4 / yr | |
| Year 6 | $57.01 $111,162.68 / yr | |
| Year 25 | $59.00 $115,053.31 / yr | |
Registered Nurse (RN-6) RN-6 Clinical nurse educator. | Start | $50.80 $99,058.64 / yr |
| Year 1 | $52.46 $102,301.49 / yr | |
| Year 2 | $54.13 $105,544.34 / yr | |
| Year 3 | $55.79 $108,791.09 / yr | |
| Year 4 | $57.70 $112,523 / yr | |
| Year 5 | $59.15 $115,335.87 / yr | |
| Year 6 | $60.63 $118,219.53 / yr | |
| Year 25 | $62.75 $122,357.24 / yr | |
Registered Nurse (RN-8) RN-8 Occupational health nurse. | Start | $45.93 $89,571.89 / yr |
| Year 1 | $47.49 $92,598.48 / yr | |
| Year 2 | $49.04 $95,625.08 / yr | |
| Year 3 | $50.59 $98,651.09 / yr | |
| Year 4 | $52.32 $102,028.48 / yr | |
| Year 5 | $53.63 $104,579.28 / yr | |
| Year 6 | $54.97 $107,193.84 / yr | |
| Year 25 | $56.90 $110,945.64 / yr | |
Registered Nurse (RN-9) RN-9 Enterostomal therapist, infection control nurse or clinical nurse specialist. | Start | $47.49 $92,598.68 / yr |
| Year 1 | $49.04 $95,625.08 / yr | |
| Year 2 | $50.59 $98,651.09 / yr | |
| Year 3 | $52.14 $101,681.19 / yr | |
| Year 4 | $53.93 $105,165.26 / yr | |
| Year 5 | $55.28 $107,794.25 / yr | |
| Year 6 | $56.66 $110,489.14 / yr | |
| Year 25 | $58.64 $114,356.19 / yr | |
Registered Nurse (RN-10) RN-10 Nurse educator (former Guysborough Antigonish Strait and Cape Breton health authorities). | Start | $52.46 $102,301.49 / yr |
| Year 1 | $54.12 $105,543.56 / yr | |
| Year 2 | $55.79 $108,790.31 / yr | |
| Year 3 | $58.31 $113,697.09 / yr | |
| Year 4 | $60.31 $117,601.19 / yr | |
| Year 5 | $61.82 $120,541.39 / yr | |
| Year 6 | $63.36 $123,554.93 / yr | |
| Year 25 | $65.58 $127,879.44 / yr | |
Nurse Practitioner (NP-1) NP-1 Specialty or primary health care nurse practitioner. | Start | $59.47 $115,960.26 / yr |
| Year 1 | $61.31 $119,546.9 / yr | |
| Year 2 | $63.20 $123,244.1 / yr | |
| Year 3 | $65.16 $127,056.15 / yr | |
| Year 4 | $67.17 $130,985.4 / yr | |
| Year 5 | $69.52 $135,569.46 / yr | |
| Year 25 | $71.96 $140,314.4 / yr | |
Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN-2) LPN-2 A fully licensed practical nurse. | Start | $31.74 $61,887.93 / yr |
| Year 1 | $32.46 $63,306.17 / yr | |
| Year 2 | $33.17 $64,673.9 / yr | |
| Year 3 | $34.09 $66,467.12 / yr | |
| Year 4 | $34.94 $68,129.1 / yr | |
| Year 5 | $35.81 $69,832.23 / yr | |
| Year 25 | $37.06 $72,276.36 / yr | |
Graduate Practical Nurse (LPN-1) LPN-1 A graduate practical nurse waiting for a full licence. | Start | $24.20 $47,190.78 / yr |
Undergraduate Student Nurse (USN) USN A nursing student employed on a casual basis. | Start | $27.90 $54,395.45 / yr |
Hourly rates calculated as: Source hourly rate. Annual equivalent shown beneath each rate.
Allowances
| Allowance | Unit | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Shift Premium Every hour worked between 19:00 and 07:00, counted by the clock rather than by the shift. Casuals get it too, and it is paid on call-back hours | Per Hour | $4.00 |
Weekend Premium Every hour worked between 00:01 Saturday and 07:00 Monday, paid on top of the shift premium, so Saturday and Sunday night hours earn both | Per Hour | $4.00 |
Charge Nurse A nurse designated as charge nurse, shift by shift or for a set period of 30 days to 18 months. Paid on top of the regular rate and every other premium | Per Hour | $2.00 |
Responsibility Pay Designated in charge of a facility when your classification and position would not normally put you in charge. Not paid together with charge nurse pay | Per Hour | $2.00 |
Permanent Resource Nurse Only while assigned to and working as a permanent resource nurse, on top of the regular rate and other premiums | Per Hour | $3.50 |
Preceptor Each hour worked as a designated preceptor | Per Hour | $1.50 |
Temporary Reassignment Temporarily reassigned from your shift to another classification, work location or patient care unit for 4 hours or more; paid on every hour of the reassignment from the first. Nothing for a reassignment under 4 hours | Per Hour | $1.25 |
RN Prescriber Registered nurses authorised to prescribe (RN-AP). Paid on all hours paid, overtime included, and pensionable (MOA #39) | Per Hour | $4.00 |
Stand-By Each stand-by period of 8 hours or less on a regular day | Per Period | $20.00 |
Stand-By (Holiday) Each stand-by period of 8 hours or less on a named holiday | Per Period | $40.00 |
Call-Back Travel Up to this amount each way per call-back (the kilometre rate instead, if greater, when called to a site other than your home site). Parking is reimbursed | Each Way | $10.00 |
Overtime Meal Working more than 3 continuous hours of overtime beyond a scheduled shift | Per Occasion | $15.00 |
Education: Post-Graduate Certificate (450–900 hours) Appendix B1 (NSNU). Only the highest education premium held is paid. Paid per regular hour at the annual figure ÷ 1,950, pro rata for part-time and casual | Per Year | $333.00 |
Education: Post-Graduate Certificate (over 900 hours) | Per Year | $667.00 |
Education: Bachelor of Nursing BN or BScN | Per Year | $1,445.00 |
Education: Master's in Nursing | Per Year | $1,961.00 |
CNA Certification Canadian Nurses Association specialty certification, paid on top of an education premium | Per Year | $996.00 |
Nursing Practice Premium Appendix C1, for qualifying nurses (70 points). Paid as a lump sum by 15 December, pro rata for part-time and casual | Per Year | $850.00 |
Nursing Leadership Premium Appendix C1, for qualifying nurses (60 points). Can be held together with the Nursing Practice Premium | Per Year | $850.00 |
Nurse Identity (Uniform) Towards black and white uniforms under the employer's uniform policy. NSGEU nurses are exempt | Per Year | $120.00 |
Nurse Retention Bonus Nurses who can retire with an unreduced pension and agree to stay 12 more months, on gross annual base earnings (premiums excluded): 3% from 31 October 2025 (2% before). Apply in writing when first eligible | Per Year | 3% of base |
Overtime & premium rates
Overtime150%
Work that extends a scheduled shift, or past 75 hours in the fortnight
Overtime past 4 hours in a day200%
Overtime worked in excess of 4 hours in any one day (Art 7.18(a)). The clause can be read two ways: double time only for the overtime hours past the fourth, or double time for all of that day's overtime once it passes 4 hours. Check your pay statement
Holiday Worked (permanent)150% + time off
Time and a half for the hours worked, plus the same hours off with pay later (2.5 times in all). If the time off is not granted, the extra hours are paid at the regular rate
Overtime on a Holiday (permanent)233% + time off
2.33 times for the overtime hours, plus the same hours off with pay (3.33 times in all)
Holiday Worked (casual)150%
200% on Christmas Day. The casual 11% already covers holiday pay
Overtime on a Holiday (casual)200%
250% on Christmas Day
Casual Pay in Lieu of Benefits11%
On straight-time pay, every fortnight, in place of vacation, holidays and other benefits
Part-Time Extra Shifts11%
Extra or relief shifts beyond a part-time nurse's designated hours, in lieu of benefits
Schedule Changed at Short Notice150%
A shift the employer changes with less than 72 hours' notice (not by mutual agreement) is paid at the overtime rate for the whole shift
Missed Meal or Rest Break150%
The missed part of the break, when it is not rescheduled within the shift
Vacation Cancelled200%
Time worked during approved vacation that the employer cancelled before it started
Recalled from Vacation300%
Time worked during a recall from vacation
No Rest After Call-Back200%
Hours from the start of the next shift until the 8-hour rest would have ended
Notes
- •Rates are hourly as printed in Appendix A-1, the NSNU scale; IWK Health prints the same rates. Annual figures here are the hourly rate × 1,950 (75 hours a fortnight × 26), the same basis as the agreement's approximate annual column.
- •The agreement expired on 31 October 2025 and continues in force until a new one is signed (Art 42.00). As of October 2026 no new nursing agreement had been reached, so the 1 November 2024 rates are current. A joint committee is designing a single new nursing pay plan, which is to be put in place through bargaining.
- •The last increase in this agreement was 2% on 1 November 2024. A new agreement may back-date increases.
- •Permanent nurses move up one step a year on their anniversary date. Casuals move up a step after every 1,000 regular hours worked, no more than once in 12 months. On hire, each 1,950 regular hours of recent experience counts as a year.
- •The Year 25 step is 3.5% above the top step. It needs 25 years of recent nursing experience and comes one year after reaching the top step at the earliest. Licensed practical nurses qualify on nursing experience.
- •Full time is 75 hours a fortnight. An 8-hour shift pays 7.5 hours (30-minute unpaid meal), a 12-hour shift pays 11.25 hours and a 10-hour shift pays 9.375 hours. A day of leave or holiday credit is 7.5 hours.
- •The shift premium (19:00 to 07:00) and weekend premium (00:01 Saturday to 07:00 Monday) are paid for each hour worked inside those times, not by where most of the shift falls, and the two stack. Casual nurses receive both.
- •Casual nurses receive 11% of straight-time pay in lieu of vacation, holidays and other benefits. Part-time nurses get the same 11% on extra or relief shifts beyond their designated hours.
- •Overtime is time and a half for time that extends a scheduled shift or goes past 75 hours in the fortnight, and double time for overtime in excess of 4 hours in one day (read either as the hours past the fourth only, or as all of that day's overtime once it passes 4 hours). Less than 15 minutes at the end of a shift is not claimed; once it reaches 15 minutes, up to 30 minutes counts as half an hour and 31 to 59 minutes as an hour. Overtime can be taken as time off instead (a bank of up to 75 hours). Casual nurses get overtime only past 75 hours in the fortnight or when a shift is extended.
- •Nurse practitioners choose their overtime method: either 37.5 hours of paid leave a year for hours over 75 a fortnight, with overtime only for authorised hours beyond that, or overtime as for other nurses.
- •Paid holidays: New Year's Day, Heritage Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Natal Day (1st Monday in August), Labour Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and Christmas Eve from 12 noon, plus any newly proclaimed holiday. Holidays fall on the actual date. A holiday on your day off gives a paid day off later.
- •A shift that crosses midnight with more than half its hours on the holiday is paid at holiday rates for the whole shift. Otherwise only the hours inside the holiday date (00:01 to 24:00) are.
- •Stand-by pays $20 for each period of 8 hours or less ($40 on a holiday). A call-back pays the greatest of 4 hours at straight time, the overtime rate for the hours worked, or the holiday rate, with the shift and weekend premiums on top. The casual nurse article (30.15(b)) does not list these call-back clauses, so whether casuals get the 4-hour minimum is unclear. After a call-back you are entitled to 8 hours' rest before your next shift with no loss of regular pay, unless the call-back is within 2 hours of that shift; if the rest cannot be given, the hours until it would have ended are paid at double time. Advice given by phone while on stand-by pays the greater of the time at the overtime rate or 30 minutes at the regular rate.
- •Vacation is 15 days a year for the first 4 years, 20 days after 4 years, 25 after 14 years and 30 after 24 years (a day is 7.5 hours). For NSNU nurses, sick leave builds at 11.25 hours for every 162.5 regular hours paid, up to 1,125 hours.
- •At IWK Health there is no acting pay. A nurse relieving in a management classification gets $7.00 per 7.5-hour shift instead. Other pay rules are the same as at Nova Scotia Health.
- •Nurses on the NSGEU, CUPE and Unifor legacy pay plans (Appendices A-2 to A-8, including the QEII's NUR codes) are not shown here. The legacy staff nurse rates match RN-2 and every legacy LPN scale matches LPN-2.
- •Source: Collective Agreement between Nova Scotia Health Authority and The Nova Scotia Council of Nursing Unions, 1 November 2020 – 31 October 2025 (signed November 2023), published by the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union — nsnu.ca (NSNU acute care agreements: nsnu.ca)
- •Source: Collective Agreement between the Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre and The Nova Scotia Council of Nursing Unions, 1 November 2020 – 31 October 2025 — nsnu.ca
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