This private member bill requires the asset owner of large capital projects to enter a Nova Scotia Jobs Agreement with the building and construction trades council before awarding construction contracts. The Agreements are intended to lock in apprentice hiring, participation by under-represented groups, standardize trade-specific wages and benefits across union and non-union workers, and promote local and Indigenous business participation.
The Act rewrites part of the procurement playbook for major public investments by converting employment and training goals into contract conditions that bind contractors and subcontractors. That creates new compliance obligations for bidders and new oversight duties for the provincial labour ministry while giving the trades and communities formal leverage over how projects are staffed and subcontracted.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill obliges an asset owner to sign a Nova Scotia Jobs Agreement with relevant building and construction trades council(s) before awarding contracts on defined qualifying projects. Agreements must meet statutory minimums (apprenticeship and diversity targets, workforce recruitment rules, wage/benefit parity and working-dues contributions) and can be tailored to the project subject to regulations.
Who It Affects
Asset owners (Crown bodies, public sector entities, and private projects when the Province provides significant funding or tax concessions), general contractors and subcontractors doing on-site construction work, trade unions and registered apprentices, and municipalities that receive large provincial funding commitments.
Why It Matters
By embedding labour and apprenticeship conditions into procurement for high-value projects, the Act moves job-quality and workforce development from aspirational policy into enforceable contract terms. That will change bidding strategy, require new compliance systems, and shift leverage toward trades councils and local hiring priorities.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The Act applies to large capital undertakings that meet the qualifying thresholds set by the legislation. A qualifying project includes Crown or public-sector capital projects (excluding municipalities), municipal projects that receive at least $50 million in provincial funding, and private-sector projects that receive at least $50 million in provincial funding or equivalent tax concessions.
The bill treats a capital undertaking holistically: related phases, components and contracts count together, and it bars deliberate splitting of work to avoid the rules.
Before a construction contract is awarded on a qualifying project, the asset owner must enter a Nova Scotia Jobs Agreement with the building and construction trades council or councils that represent the trades needed on the job. Parties may adapt the Agreement to the project, but the Agreement must meet statutory minimums and any regulatory requirements.
The Agreement binds contractors, subcontractors, and both unionized and non-unionized employees who perform on-site construction work, subject to limited carve-outs for professional services and off-site manufacturing or supply.The bill imposes concrete workforce targets and downstream accountability on bidders. A general contractor submitting a bid must confirm, on a prescribed form, participation in the provincial apprenticeship system and compliance with the Province’s Apprenticeship Procurement Policy.
The contractor must ensure at least 25% of designated trade hours are performed by registered apprentices, that at least 10% of those apprentice hours are by apprentices from under-represented groups, and that at least 10% of total construction workers on the project are members of under-represented groups. The general contractor is responsible for meeting these targets across the whole project and must flow those requirements to subcontractors.On labour terms, the Agreement must establish a local recruitment and hiring process prioritizing qualified Nova Scotians.
It requires that all employees performing the same trade be paid the trade-specific wages, benefits and protections set out in the Agreement, regardless of union status, and that both union and non-union workers contribute the working dues specified for the trade. Asset owners must file the executed Agreement with the Labour Board within 15 days.
The Act also requires project plans to maximize opportunities for Nova Scotia businesses, explicitly including Mi'kmaq and other Indigenous businesses.Accountability and enforcement are delegated in large part to regulation and ministerial oversight. The Minister may require corrective action plans and impose remedies set out in regulations where contractors or subcontractors fail to comply.
The Minister also has broad authority to make regulations prescribing classes of work, mandatory Agreement elements, reporting forms and requirements, and enforcement mechanisms.
The Five Things You Need to Know
A Nova Scotia Jobs Agreement is required before awarding construction contracts on any capital project where the Province’s involvement meets a $50,000,000 threshold (applies to certain Crown/public projects, municipal projects with $50M+ provincial funding, and private projects with $50M+ provincial funding or tax concessions).
General contractors must ensure at least 25% of designated trade hours on a qualifying project are performed by registered apprentices and that at least 10% of those apprentice hours are by apprentices from under-represented groups.
The Agreement must guarantee that employees performing the same trade receive the trade-specific wages, benefits and protections the Agreement establishes, and that both union and non-union workers contribute working dues for hours worked on the project.
The asset owner must file a copy of the executed Agreement with the Labour Board within 15 days of entering the Agreement, and the Minister may require corrective action plans or other regulatory remedies for non-compliance.
Every qualifying project must include a plan to maximize participation by Nova Scotia businesses, explicitly including Mi'kmaq and other Indigenous businesses, as part of the Agreement framework.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Short title
Sets the Act's short title as the Nova Scotia Jobs Agreements Act. Mechanically this triggers the statute's identity and is where other instruments or policies will cite it. No substantive obligations attach to this section, but it marks this statute as a standalone procurement/labour overlay for major projects.
Purpose clause — workforce, apprenticeships and local benefits
Lists multiple policy objectives: creating good jobs, boosting apprenticeships and under‑represented group participation, standardizing wages and conditions, promoting labour stability, maximizing local and Indigenous business opportunities, and ensuring transparency. The clause frames legislative intent and will matter when interpreting ambiguous provisions or designing regulations and Agreement templates.
Key definitions
Defines core terms used throughout the Act, such as 'Agreement', 'building and construction trades council', 'Minister', and 'qualifying project'. These definitions narrow the Act’s scope and identify the trades councils as the named bargaining or representative counterparties for Agreements.
Scope: which projects require Agreements
Specifies three routes to qualification: Crown/public-sector projects (other than municipalities) at or above the $50M threshold, municipal projects with $50M+ in provincial funding, and private projects receiving $50M+ in provincial funding or tax concessions. The section prevents artificial parceling of projects to avoid the threshold and requires aggregation of related phases and contracts.
Timing and counterparties for Jobs Agreements
Requires asset owners to enter a Nova Scotia Jobs Agreement with the applicable building and construction trades council(s) before awarding construction contracts. Agreements may be tailored to each project but must meet the Act’s minimums and any regulatory specifications; this creates a pre-award negotiation point that will be part of procurement timelines.
Apprenticeship and bidder obligations
Imposes explicit apprenticeship and diversity targets that bidders must confirm on a prescribed form: participation in the apprenticeship system, a 25% apprentice-hours floor for designated trades, 10% of apprentice hours by under-represented-group apprentices, and a 10% overall under-represented-group workforce minimum. It places ultimate responsibility on the general contractor to achieve these across the project and to flow requirements to subcontractors.
Wages, working dues, recruitment and filing
Mandates local recruitment processes and requires that all workers doing the same trade receive the trade-specific wage and benefit terms set in the Agreement, irrespective of union status. It also obliges both union and non-union workers to contribute working dues for hours worked under the Agreement. The asset owner must file the Agreement with the Labour Board within 15 days, creating a public record and a compliance trigger.
Local and Indigenous business participation plans
Requires qualifying projects to include a plan to maximize opportunities for Nova Scotia businesses, explicitly including Mi'kmaq and other Indigenous businesses. This elevates local procurement and Indigenous participation to a contractual requirement rather than a discretionary procurement objective.
Enforcement and corrective action
Grants the Minister power to require corrective action plans and to apply remedies as prescribed by regulations when contractors or subcontractors fail to comply. The section centralizes enforcement authority with the Minister but delegates the content of remedies to future regulations.
Regulations — scope of ministerial power
Gives the Minister broad regulatory authority to define excluded classes of work, prescribe required Agreement elements and forms, set reporting obligations, prescribe corrective actions and remedies, and define undefined terms. Because so much detail is deferred to regulation, the eventual shape of compliance and enforcement will depend heavily on secondary rule‑making.
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Explore this topic in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Registered apprentices — The Act creates guaranteed on‑site apprenticeship hours (25% of designated trade hours) and specific targets for apprentices from under‑represented groups, increasing training and journeyperson progression opportunities.
- Members of under-represented groups — The law mandates minimum participation (10% of apprentice hours and 10% of the overall construction workforce), creating a contractual pathway for increased access to trade jobs.
- Mi'kmaq and other Indigenous businesses — Projects must include plans to maximize participation by Nova Scotia businesses, explicitly naming Mi'kmaq and Indigenous firms, improving procurement opportunities for these suppliers and contractors.
- Building and construction trades councils and unions — The requirement to negotiate Agreements and the filing obligation with the Labour Board gives trades councils formal leverage to shape wages, benefits and apprenticeship pathways on major projects.
- Local contractors and suppliers — The Act prioritizes qualified Nova Scotia workers and requires project plans to maximize local business participation, which can steer subcontracts and supply chains toward in‑province firms.
Who Bears the Cost
- General contractors and subcontractors — They must meet apprenticeship and diversity quotas, flow requirements downstream, collect and remit working dues for non‑union employees, and bear the administrative and compliance burden of reporting and corrective action plans.
- Asset owners (including Crown bodies and municipalities receiving provincial funds) — They must negotiate and enter Agreements prior to contract award, manage filing obligations with the Labour Board, and may face project delays while Agreements are finalized.
- Non‑union employers and workers — Non‑union employees will be required to contribute working dues for hours worked under Agreements and may have to accept trade‑specific terms set in Agreements even if not party to a union.
- Provincial administration — The Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration will need to write regulations, review filings, monitor compliance and enforce corrective actions, potentially requiring new administrative capacity and resources.
- Private developers receiving provincial funding or tax concessions — Projects that rely on significant provincial support will be pushed into these labour obligations, which can increase project costs or change financial modelling.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is trade‑offs between enforceable labour outcomes and procurement efficiency: the Act forces public investments to deliver apprenticeships, diversity and standardized trade terms, but those obligations raise project costs, administrative complexity and potential legal friction — creating a real choice between maximizing job and training quality on one hand and preserving low‑cost, fast procurement on the other.
The Act embeds significant content in ministerial regulations and Agreement templates, which means the practical reach of the law will depend on secondary rule‑making. Important implementation details — how apprentice hours are defined and counted, which trades are 'designated', how 'under‑represented groups' are identified and documented, and the specific remedies for non‑compliance — are all left to the regulations.
That creates near‑term uncertainty for bidders and asset owners until the Province prescribes forms and enforcement mechanics.
Several operational and legal tensions arise. Measuring and auditing the required percentages (apprentice hours, under‑represented-group participation) across multi‑contract projects is administratively complex and invites disputes among contractors, trades councils and the asset owner.
The requirement that both union and non‑union workers pay working dues for hours worked under an Agreement may raise contested questions about collective bargaining rights and the legal status of dues for non‑members; employers and legal counsel will want clarity on how dues obligations are calculated and enforced. Finally, while the Act bars artificial splitting of projects, it may incentivize different avoidance strategies (contract restructuring, off-site prefabrication, or contracting models) unless regulations carefully close loopholes.
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