August 2026: PEI's New Rules, New Brunswick Pay Transparency & 7 Wage Hikes
August is the month to turn recent announcements into working payroll rules, leave forms, job-posting templates and manager instructions. Prince Edward Island's new Employment Standards Act is already in force. New Brunswick employers now have pay-transparency duties and a new 27-week leave. Two northern wage floors rise September 1, five more provincial rates change October 1, federally regulated employers face equal-treatment rules on October 20, and BC employers with 50 or more employees have a November 1 reporting deadline. This issue gives you the rule, the employee group it affects, the date, and the action to take. It is written for federally regulated employers and employers in every province and territory except Quebec, which remains outside Canada Policy Manual's coverage.
Legal updates
PEI's new Employment Standards Act is already in force
PE
Effective June 30, 2026
PEI replaced its employment-standards framework on June 30, 2026. Key changes: up to 27 weeks of unpaid, job-protected medical leave; four unpaid sick days per year after 30 days of employment; medical notes only after more than five consecutive working days of absence; maximum workweek dropped from 48 to 44 hours; three weeks of vacation after five years (down from eight); statutory termination-notice eligibility begins after 90 days. Run a clause-by-clause PEI audit covering medical/sick leave, proof of illness, hours, averaging, scheduling, rest periods, vacation, termination, pay statements and tips.
New Brunswick — pay ranges are now required in job postings
NB
Effective June 12, 2026
New Brunswick's Pay Transparency Act (effective June 12, 2026) requires every new public or internal job posting to include an expected hourly wage, salary, or range. Employers must not seek an applicant's compensation history directly or through a third party. Annual reporting duties for employers averaging 50+ employees require proclamation, with staged filing dates starting with public-service employers in 2028. Add a mandatory compensation field to every requisition, remove salary-history questions from applications and recruiter guides, and tell agencies not to request or use compensation history.
New Brunswick — a new 27-week long-term illness and injury leave
NB
Effective June 12, 2026
Employees with more than 90 continuous days of employment may take up to 27 weeks of unpaid leave in a 52-week period when incapable of working due to illness or injury. Leave can be split but each period must last at least one week. Employers may request a certificate from a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner or midwife. Reinstatement to the same or equivalent position is protected. Add the leave to policy and request forms, train absence-notification staff, and stop treating every lengthy non-occupational absence as a discipline issue.
Federal — equal treatment rules arrive October 20
FED
Effective October 20, 2026
Federally regulated employers will be prohibited from paying different wage rates based on employment status for substantially the same work under similar conditions in the same establishment. Three operational duties: employees can request a wage review requiring a written response within 90 days (with back pay if warranted); employees must receive written information about all employment and promotion opportunities; temporary-help agencies face fee prohibitions and equal-wage requirements. Inventory all role types, document wage-setting factors, create a wage-review intake workflow, and update opportunity-notice procedures.
Northwest Territories — minimum wage rises to $17.20 on September 1
NT
Effective September 1, 2026
The NWT general minimum wage increases from $16.95 to $17.20 per hour effective September 1, 2026. Identify employees below the new floor, check compression for workers just above it, update payroll, offers, job ads, and rate tables. Test the first affected pay before release.
Nunavut — minimum wage rises to $20.17 on September 1
NU
Effective September 1, 2026
Nunavut's general minimum wage increases from $19.75 to $20.17 per hour effective September 1, 2026. The rate has no age restriction. If a payroll period crosses September 1, pay pre-change and post-change hours at the correct rate rather than applying a single blended rate.
Five October 1 wage changes — one payroll project, five rate files
MB/NS/ON/PE/SK
Effective October 1, 2026
Manitoba: $16.00 → $16.40/hr. Nova Scotia: $16.75 → $17.00/hr. Ontario: $17.60 → $17.95/hr (plus student, homeworker and wilderness-guide rates). Prince Edward Island: $17.00 → $17.30/hr. Saskatchewan: $15.35 → $15.70/hr. Create one controlled wage-change file per employee: work jurisdiction, current rate, new rate, effective date, pay-period crossover treatment, approver and test result. Check salary-equivalent employees whose hours could pull them below the floor.
Ontario — first-aid training moved to a modernized program
ON
Effective June 22, 2026
WSIB aligned workplace first-aid training with CSA Z1210:24 on June 22, 2026. Emergency First Aid is now Basic First Aid; Standard First Aid is now Intermediate First Aid. Certificates issued by previously approved providers through June 21 remain valid until expiry. Do not retrain everyone solely because course names changed. Record each certificate's level, issuer, issue/expiry date and shift/location coverage. Use an approved provider for new training.
British Columbia — 50+ employee pay reports are due November 1
BC
Effective November 1, 2026
Most provincially regulated BC employers with 50 or more employees must prepare a prescribed pay-transparency report and publish it on a publicly accessible website by November 1, 2026. Employee demographic disclosure is voluntary but employers must make reasonable collection efforts. Confirm scope and headcount, assign a privacy-aware data owner, inventory payroll and gender-category data, issue voluntary self-identification opportunities, use BC's reporting tool, and schedule legal/privacy review before posting.
August 3 — same Monday, different holiday result by province
BC/NB/AB/ON/MB/NS
Effective August 3, 2026
BC Day is a statutory holiday in British Columbia. New Brunswick Day is a paid public holiday in New Brunswick. Alberta Heritage Day is optional — statutory rules apply if the employer recognizes it. Ontario Civic Holiday is NOT one of Ontario's nine ESA public holidays. Manitoba Terry Fox Day is not a general holiday. Nova Scotia Natal Day is not a paid general holiday under the Labour Standards Code. Confirm each location's open/closed decision, eligibility test, premium, substitute day, scheduling and payroll code.
Enforcement watch — temporary foreign worker compliance is not paperwork theatre
FED
Effective Ongoing
For the April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026 fiscal year: 1,488 inspections, 12% non-compliance rate, $10.2 million in administrative monetary penalties and 30 employer bans. Build an inspection-ready file for every TFW position: LMIA and offer, recruitment evidence, wage and prevailing-wage reviews, signed employment agreement, work location/duties, time and pay records, housing/transport arrangements where applicable, and proof that the worker received the promised terms.
What's changed in your manual
PEI policy rewrite — medical leave, hours, vacation and termination
Update all PEI policies and forms to reflect the new Employment Standards Act: medical leave up to 27 weeks, sick leave threshold at more than five consecutive working days, 44-hour workweek, three weeks' vacation after five years, and termination after 90 days.
New Brunswick recruiting — pay ranges and salary-history ban
Add a mandatory compensation field to every internal and external job requisition. Remove salary-history questions from applications, recruiter guides and screening calls.
New Brunswick 27-week leave — policy and forms
Add the long-term illness and injury leave entitlement to policy, request forms and return-to-work processes. Minimum one-week leave blocks; certificate from a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner or midwife permitted.
Wage rollout — September 1 (NT/NU) and October 1 (MB/NS/ON/PE/SK)
Build the controlled wage-change file with effective date, crossover treatment, approver and test result. Audit salary-equivalent employees and linked overtime/premium calculations.
Federal equal treatment — opportunity notices and wage-review workflow
Map comparable roles and legitimate wage-setting factors. Create a written opportunity-notice process and a 90-day wage-review response workflow before October 20.
Ontario first aid — update certificate register and approved providers
Record each certificate's new level name (Basic or Intermediate First Aid), issuer, issue/expiry date and shift/location coverage. Do not retrain employees whose existing certificates are still valid.
BC pay reporting — voluntary self-identification and report preparation
Confirm 50+ scope, issue voluntary demographic self-identification opportunity to employees, reconcile payroll data, and schedule legal/privacy/executive review before the November 1 posting deadline.
Manitoba sick notes — revised absence policy before October 1
Update the absence policy to reflect the October 1 rules limiting when a medical certificate may be requested for short-term illness or injury.
Change-control register — one row per legal update
Record rule, effective date, employees in scope, system/config change, document change, owner, test/evidence and sign-off. A single row is not complete until all evidence is linked.
Compliance calendar
PEI new Employment Standards Act — already in force
2026-08-01
PE
PEI's new Act took effect June 30, 2026. Finish the policy, scheduling, payroll and form audit now. Do not wait.
NB pay-range/pay-history rules and 27-week leave — already in force
2026-08-01
NB
New Brunswick's Pay Transparency Act and new long-term leave provisions took effect June 12, 2026. Fix recruiting templates and add the 27-week leave workflow immediately.
First-Monday holiday — entitlements differ by province
2026-08-03
BC/NB/AB/ON/MB/NS
BC Day (statutory), NB Day (paid public holiday), AB Heritage Day (optional), ON Civic Holiday (not ESA-listed), MB Terry Fox Day (not a general holiday), NS Natal Day (not a paid general holiday). Validate schedule, eligibility and payroll code for each location.
NT/NU — recommended internal payroll cut-off for September 1 rate QA
2026-08-21
NT/NU
Finish September 1 rate quality assurance before the final payroll window closes. NWT rises to $17.20/hr and Nunavut rises to $20.17/hr.
NWT minimum wage → $17.20/hr and Nunavut → $20.17/hr
2026-09-01
NT/NU
Release tested payroll rates. For cross-date pay periods, apply pre- and post-change hours at the correct rate separately.
Labour Day — paid general holiday (all jurisdictions)
2026-09-07
FED
Labour Day is a statutory holiday across all provinces, territories and federal jurisdiction. Run jurisdiction-specific holiday-pay checks in advance.
Five provincial minimum-wage increases — MB, NS, ON, PE, SK
2026-10-01
MB/NS/ON/PE/SK
MB $16.40, NS $17.00, ON $17.95, PEI $17.30, SK $15.70. Release rates and audit first affected payroll run.
Manitoba sick-note restrictions take effect
2026-10-01
MB
Requests generally require an absence continuing for more than one week or more than 10 scheduled absence days for illness/injury in the calendar year. Activate revised absence policy and manager script.
Federal equal-treatment and temporary-help-agency provisions take effect
2026-10-20
FED
Launch wage-review intake and 90-day response workflow, implement written opportunity-notice process, and confirm agency contracts meet new requirements.
BC 50+ employee pay-transparency reports due
2026-11-01
BC
Publish the completed pay-transparency report on a publicly accessible website. Do not wait until October to discover your data cannot be reconciled.
Featured read
Employee Handbook Template Canada (2026): Plain-English Employer GuideA handbook should tell a manager what to do on a real Tuesday morning, not merely repeat legal concepts. Use this guide to organize jurisdiction-specific rules, owner responsibilities, review dates and employee acknowledgements — then apply the August update queue.
Build a one-page change-control register
For every legal change, record eight fields: Rule, Effective date, Employees in scope, System/config change, Document change, Owner, Test/evidence, Sign-off. This catches the failure mode that creates most avoidable errors: the handbook was updated, but the job-posting template, payroll rate, absence form or manager script was not. Set one 30-minute meeting with HR, payroll, operations and the accountable executive. Review exceptions separately. A single row should not be marked complete until the underlying evidence is linked.
The federal equal-treatment package is not only about wages
Covered employers must also provide written information about all employment and promotion opportunities, and a worker's wage-review request requires a written response within 90 days. Those process duties can require more preparation than the pay analysis itself. Federally regulated employers include many banks, airlines, interprovincial transport and telecom employers and federal Crown corporations.
Review your manual regularly, preserve evidence of each update and escalate fact-specific questions to qualified counsel.