Minimum wage workers in the province are set to see an increase in their paycheques from today October 1st. The primary sectors employing minimum wage earners are accommodation and food, retail trade, and agriculture.
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Statistics Canada said 10.9 per cent of workers in Ontario earned the minimum wage in 2014, compared to an average of 7.3 per cent of workers in the rest of Canada. “It means that minimum wage earnings will not fall as far behind as they have in the past when the minimum wage could be frozen for years at a time”.
The increase, which was announced earlier this year, will see the minimum wage increase from $11 per hour to $11.25 per hour.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are raising the minimum wage employers must pay their workers. “We all need to remember that this 25 cent adjustment is not the same as a wage increase”, adds Ladd.
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The NDP government says it’s a first step toward a $15 minimum wage by 2018. “It’s the right thing to do, and I’m glad we are positioned to get there”. The annual cost of moving to $15 per hour in 2017 is estimated to be $7.9 million overall, with $6.7 million of the cost going to student employees.
