The minimum wage in Ontario is set to increase this fall and at a time when the cost of living in Canada has become a major concern for many families, the minimum wage increase is set to match the pace of inflation.
Ontario's minimum wage will go up on October 1, 2023, by 6.8 percent from the previous rate of $15.50 per hour.
The new rate of $16.55 per hour will equal out to an extra $2,200 annually for a worker who makes minimum wage and works 40 hours per week.
This move is almost exactly in line with the recent increase to the federal minimum wage in Canada, which was just increased from $15.55 per hour to $16.65 per hour, "to keep pace with inflation."
"Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is putting workers in the driver’s seat of their careers, and their lives,” said Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development in a press release. “This latest increase is a fair and balanced approach that means more money in their pockets so they can support their families and continuing building a stronger Ontario for all of us.”
According to the government, 942,400 workers were earning $16.55 per hour or less in 2022 and the majority of those workers were women.
On top of that, over 40 percent of workers at or below the current minimum wage of $15.50 per hour work in retail trade and nearly 25 percent work in the accommodation or food services sectors.
"I'm proud of my record around minimum wage, to increase it to $16.55 an hour, the highest of any province in the country," Minister McNaughton told the Canadian Press. "But I also want to be clear that minimum wage jobs should be a starting point and not an end point. That's why we're investing hundreds of millions of dollars to retrain and upskill workers for bigger paycheque."
According to the Ontario Living Wage Network, Ontario's new minimum wage of $16.55 per hour is still well below what is needed to live comfortably in the province these days, which ranges anywhere from $18.15 per hour in an area like Chatham-Kent to $23.15 per hour for anyone living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Meanwhile, as Ontario's minimum wage increase for 2023 comes in above the minimum wage of $14.25 per hour in Quebec, $15.65 per hour in British Columbia, and $15.00 per hour in Alberta, is it still below the minimum wage in the territories of Yukon and Nunavut.
Yukon's minimum wage is set to increase on April 1 to $16.77 per hour, the highest of anywhere in Canada, and Nunavut has a minimum wage of $16.00 per hour.
What is the minimum wage in Ontario?
The minimum wage in Ontario is currently $15.50 per hour, but it is set to increase by 6.8 per cent to $16.55 per hour as of October 1, 2023.
The increase is set to give a worker who earns minimum wage and works 40 hours per week an extra $2,200 annually.
