Canada's Minimum Wage Is Set To Be Boosted Across All Federally-Regulated Industries
As part of the 2021 federal budget, Deputy PM and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland announced that Canada’s minimum wage is set to be boosted across all federally-regulated industries.
Speaking on Monday, April 19, Freeland said that “low-wage workers in Canada work harder than anyone else in this country, for less pay.”
Editor's Choice: York Region Just Lowered The Vaccine Age Limit To 35 In These 5 Postal Codes
She acknowledged that low-wage workers have faced “both significant infection risks and layoffs” during the COVID-19 pandemic and said that many live below the poverty line, despite working full-time.
“We cannot ignore their contribution and their hardship and we will not,” she said, revealing that the budget will introduce a $15 an hour federal minimum wage.
Additionally, Freeland proposed an $8.9 billion investment over six years into the Canada Workers Benefit, which intends to “[extend] income top-ups to about a million more Canadians and [lift] nearly 100,000 people out of poverty.”
What is a federally-regulated industry?
The $15 per hour minimum wage proposal would impact employees in all federally-regulated industries across Canada.
This will include regulated private sectors, like airlines, airports, banks, post services, radio and television broadcasting, road transportation services, telecommunications and many more.
It will also include federally-regulated public sectors, such as federal public service jobs and Parliament employees.
"This will directly benefit over 26,000 workers who currently make less than $15 per hour in the federally-regulated private sector," states the official 2021 federal budget.