TORONTO — Ontarians earning minimum wage are waking up to a raise. Effective this Saturday, the general minimum wage is up 50 cents to $15.50 an hour, a measure announced by the Ford government in April.
The minimum wage also increased this Saturday in three of the four Atlantic provinces. New Brunswick introduced a one-dollar raise, bringing the minimum wage to $13.75 an hour, the highest in the region.
In Newfoundland and Labrador a jump of 50 cents brings the minimum wage in Canada’s easternmost province to $13.70 an hour.
Nova Scotia minimum wage workers will get a 25 cent increase to $13.60 an hour.
The rate has not increased in Prince Edward Island, where the government announced last week that the minimum wage will rise from $13.70 to $14.50 on Jan. 1.
Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador are both planning new increases that will see the minimum wage reach $15 an hour in October 2023, while Nova Scotia will reach that threshold in October 2024.
50 cents per hour more in Ontario
In Ontario, students under the age of 18 now earn $14.60 an hour, down from $14.10, while homeworkers – those who do paid work from home on behalf of ‘one employer – see an increase of 55 cents, reaching $17.05 per hour.
The Ford government in 2019 reversed a minimum wage increase from $14 to $15 an hour planned by the former Wynne government.
The Progressive Conservatives then raised pay to $15 an hour in January this year, with Doug Ford saying the increase was made to make life more affordable for people.
The 50-cent rise comes after Canada’s annual inflation rate hit a June high in nearly 40 years — and although it has slowed since, Statistics Canada reported in August that grocery store prices had grown at the fastest rate since 1981.
Labor Minister Monte McNaughton said the government recognizes Ontario families are grappling with the rising cost of living, but will continue to announce the wage increase scheduled for October each April. , which he says is determined by taking into account the inflation of the previous two years.