November 26, 2025
Dear Editor,
Here is a way for the government to save more cash as things tighten up, and something you won't hear from the right-wing business groups. It’s time for Nova Scotia to modernize its laws around sick notes. While Nova Scotia made progress in 2025, the province is still lagging behind British Columbia, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and even federal workplaces when it comes to fair, smart sick-day rules.
Here’s the reality: under Nova Scotia’s law, employers can still demand a sick note after more than five days away or after just two short absences in a year. Compare that to BC, where workers are protected from employer sick note requests for their first two short absences each year, and can even provide simple proof, such as a pharmacy receipt or their own signed statement. Quebec and Saskatchewan also passed laws that sharply limit sick note requirements, no more needless paperwork for minor illnesses.
Most federal government workers do not need a sick note unless they’re away for more than five straight days, regardless of how often illness strikes. Doctors and health experts have spoken: issuing sick notes for colds and flus is a waste of time and money. It clogs up medical clinics and emergency rooms, keeps sick people from home, and costs the province in lost appointments, longer waitlists, and extra strain on the already overworked health system and family doctors. Nova Scotia taxpayers foot that bill even though a sick note benefits only the employer, not taxpayers. Improving Nova Scotia’s law would cost the province nothing; in fact, it would save real money.
BC expects to save thousands of hours of physician time each year, and the administrative burden is going down everywhere the law is changed. This frees up doctors to care for patients who genuinely need help, cuts costs for both workers and government, and helps prevent the spread of illness. Why are we using public health dollars on paperwork for private businesses? Let’s help workers recover at home, take the pressure off our health-care system, and cut unnecessary costs for all Nova Scotians. Following BC, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and the federal example is good policy, sound economics, and just plain common sense. Nova Scotia can catch up if our leaders listen and act. Saving money is not always about cutting jobs and services.
Sincerely,
Danny Cavanagh
Truro
