N.S. long-term care residents, families urge province to raise offer on wages

Carl Snyder, a resident at Ocean View Continuing Care Centre, joins striking long-term care workers rallying on a picket line in Eastern Passage, N.S. on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

EASTERN PASSAGE — Some Nova Scotia long-term care residents and their family members want the province to raise its offer on wages as a strike in the sector enters its eighth week.

Bette Wilcox’s husband is a resident at Ocean View Continuing Care Centre in Eastern Passage, N.S., and she says that for years she’s had peace of mind knowing he’s well cared for at the facility.

But as services for residents are reduced with the strike, she says she returns home from visiting him and cries because she fears for his well-being.

Carl Snyder, who lives at Ocean View and is president of the facility’s residents council, says he doesn’t blame workers for the strike and says staff deserve higher wages.

The government’s latest offer that it made public included wage increases of between 12 and 24 per cent over four years.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees has said the proposal would bring lowest-paid workers up to $23.57 an hour by 2028, which it has said is below the current living wage in the province.

The government and union say essential services are being maintained, but many physiotherapists, occupational therapists and recreational therapists are working reduced hours. Nurses, continuing-care assistants and housekeeping staff are also part of the strike that began on April 13.

Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2026.