Both Nikon S1000pj and Canon S120 have 12.0 MP resolution sensors but Nikon S1000pj's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ) and Canon S120's sensor is 1/1.7-inch (7.44 x 5.58 mm ).
Since Canon S120's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Nikon S1000pj.
Below you can see the S1000pj and S120 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Canon S120 has a 1.5x Larger sensor area than Nikon S1000pj. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.