Nova Scotia's Care Crisis: Strike Vote Signals Systemic Failure

SYDNEY, NS – December 10, 2025 – A resounding 91% strike mandate from workers at the St. Anne Community and Nursing Care Centre is the latest and loudest signal of a deep-seated crisis brewing within Nova Scotia’s long-term care sector. The vote, delivered by members of CUPE 5032, is not an isolated flare-up but a symptom of systemic vulnerabilities: chronic underfunding, severe wage disparities, and a government struggling to reconcile fiscal restraint with the human cost of an unraveling care system.

For two years, these workers have operated without a contract, a period marked by escalating frustration and stalled negotiations. “It’s incredibly frustrating that it has come to this, to taking a strike vote,” said CUPE 5032 President Annette Boudreau in a statement. Her words capture a sentiment of exasperation felt across the sector. “We’re underpaid and overworked, and the government doesn’t seem to care.” This vote moves beyond a simple labor dispute; it’s a direct challenge to the province’s approach to elder care and a warning of the potential for significant disruption to its most vulnerable citizens.

The Widening Chasm in Atlantic Care

The core of the conflict is a stark economic reality: CUPE maintains that Nova Scotia’s long-term care workers are the lowest paid in Atlantic Canada. The numbers paint a troubling picture of a workforce left behind. In some facilities, essential staff like cooks and seamstresses earn less than $20 an hour, a figure that the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives suggests is nearly $10 below the calculated living wage for the province.

This disparity becomes even more pronounced when looking across provincial borders. A recent collective agreement in Prince Edward Island created a wage gap of nearly $10 per hour for comparable roles, such as dietary aides. In New Brunswick, a new contract for nursing home workers secured annual wage increases with a clear goal of achieving parity with the broader healthcare sector by 2028. These agreements elsewhere in the region serve as powerful growth signals, highlighting investment in workforce stability—a signal conspicuously absent in Nova Scotia’s current bargaining climate.

While the provincial government did implement a significant 23% wage increase for Continuing Care Assistants (CCAs) in 2022 to make them the highest paid in the region, that targeted action appears to have created an internal fracture. By leaving other essential classifications—the cooks, cleaners, laundry staff, and maintenance workers who are integral to a facility's function—far behind, it fostered a sense of inequity that has now boiled over. The government’s strategy, intended to address a specific shortage, inadvertently exposed the vulnerability of its piecemeal approach to compensation.

The union’s position transcends mere wage demands, framing the issue as an existential threat to the sector itself. “Who will take care of our elderly if every long term care worker leaves the sector?” asked CUPE Long Term Care Coordinator Tammy Martin. “The solution isn’t changing jobs—it’s paying these workers what they deserve.” Her question underscores the direct link between compensation and the sustainability of care, a connection that appears lost in the protracted negotiations.

A System Under Strain

The strike mandate is a direct consequence of a system already buckling under immense pressure. For years, Nova Scotia's long-term care sector has been plagued by a chronic staffing crisis fueled by retirements, burnout, and a failure to attract new workers. The workload has only intensified as residents entering care now present with higher acuity and more complex health needs, demanding more from a shrinking workforce.

Data reveals the depth of the strain. CUPE claims that only half of the province's long-term care homes currently meet the widely accepted standard of 4.1 hours of direct care per resident per day. This deficit translates into delayed care, compromised quality of life, and an exhausted workforce. Some facilities have even been forced to halt new admissions, a clear signal that the system lacks the capacity to meet demand.

In response, Premier Tim Houston’s government has made several moves. In 2021, it announced a $57 million plan to address staffing, including covering tuition for CCA programs and funding for international recruitment. More recently, in November 2025, the government provided a financial mandate that allowed bargaining to resume after a long stall. However, these initiatives have been met with skepticism. Union leaders immediately criticized the financial mandate as “insulting,” claiming it failed to address the crushing impact of inflation or bring wages in line with regional standards.

This disconnect between government action and worker reality is a critical vulnerability. While Premier Houston was elected on a promise to fix healthcare, the current impasse suggests a fundamental disagreement on what “fixing” requires. The government’s past acknowledgment of low pay for CCAs contrasts sharply with its recent refusal to comment on the adequacy of wages for the broader long-term care workforce, signaling a potential retreat from a comprehensive solution.

The Ripple Effect of Labor Unrest

The overwhelming 91% mandate is a powerful signal of union solidarity and a clear indicator of worker desperation. It is not an isolated event. This vote is part of a larger, coordinated bargaining effort involving workers from over 50 long-term care homes across Nova Scotia, all with expired contracts. With other CUPE locals also delivering strike mandates, the potential for widespread labor action is growing, creating significant leverage for the unions.

However, a full-scale walkout is not possible. Nova Scotia’s Essential Health and Community Services Act ensures that long-term care homes cannot be completely shut down. Instead, a strike would trigger a scenario of minimal coverage, with facilities operating with a skeleton crew to provide only what the union calls “the absolute necessities.” This would dramatically reduce the level of care, potentially leaving residents without assistance for basic daily activities like getting dressed or moving from their beds.

The very process of defining these essential services has been fraught with conflict. Negotiations between the unions and Nova Scotia Health to finalize an essential services agreement have been ongoing for over a year, with nearly half of the staffing proposals still in dispute as of late summer. This difficulty in agreeing on a bare-minimum level of care during a strike highlights the chasm between the employer’s operational goals and the union’s concern for resident well-being.

As workers at St. Anne’s and other facilities prepare for an information picket in New Glasgow, they are not just fighting for their own contracts. They are testing the political will of a government and forcing a public conversation about the true cost of care. This single strike vote has become a potent growth signal, indicating that the long-simmering crisis in Nova Scotia’s long-term care sector has finally reached its boiling point.