Ontario minimum wage to increase to $16.55 per hour on Oct. 1
Ontario minimum wage to increase to $16.55 per hour on Oct. 1
Ontario's minimum wage is set to go up to $16.55 an hour on Oct. 1.
It marks a 6.8 per cent boost from the current rate of $15.50 an hour, an increase tied to inflation.
The increase means someone making minimum wage and working 40 hours per week would see their pay increase by nearly $2,200 per year, the government said.
It will go a long way toward helping people with the cost of living, Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said in an interview.
"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," he said.
"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 paycheques."
McNaughton said the government is indicating the Oct. 1 increase now in order to give businesses time to plan.
Labour advocates and opposition critics have said Ontario should introduce a $20 minimum wage.
"Given the current cost of living crisis and record-high annual inflation, these legislated adjustments are a lifeline for workers struggling to make ends meet," Deena Ladd, executive director of the Workers' Action Centre wrote in a statement.
"(But) Ontario's minimum wage is much lower than it should be. The minimum wage on Oct. 1 would be $17.95 had (Premier Doug) Ford not cancelled the $15 minimum wage back in January 2019."
The Progressive Conservatives cancelled a planned minimum wage increase from $14 to $15 per hour after they took office in 2018. The government then raised the minimum wage to $15 in January of last year.
The Ontario Living Wage Network says a living wage in many parts of the province would be $19, but in the Greater Toronto Area it is over $23.
Yukon's minimum wage, at $16.77, is higher than what Ontario's will rise to, and the federal government's minimum wage will be $16.65 as of Saturday.
Ontario is also working on its portable benefits plan that would provide health and dental benefits attached to a worker, not a workplace, McNaughton noted.
That program is intended to cover workers in the gig economy, retail and hospitality jobs who don't have benefits, and accommodate people who may change careers throughout their lives. A task force set to deliver a blueprint for it in the summer.
Also on Oct. 1, the minimum wage for Ontario students will increase from $14.60 to $15.60 an hour for those under age 18 who work 28 hours a week or less when school is in session or work during a school break or summer holidays.
People who do paid work out of their own homes for employers will have to be paid at least $18.20 an hour, up from $17.05.
The minimum wage for hunting, fishing and wilderness guides is set to rise from $77.60 to $82.85 when working less than five consecutive hours in a day, and from $155.25 to $165.75 when working five or more hours in a day.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2023.
Meta is planning to run a test that will block news for some Canadian users on Facebook and Instagram in response to the Liberal government's controversial online news bill.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada
Gatineau police say officers responded to a call from staff at l’école l'Oiseau Bleu on Nelligan Street just after 10 a.m. Friday about a camera found in the washroom.
Researchers at Carleton University's Department of Electronics in Ottawa created a ground-breaking testing device to detect early signs of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s through biomolecular activities in a person’s saliva.
The wedding of Jordan's crown prince to the scion of a prominent Saudi family began on Thursday in a palace celebration that drew massive crowds and a mood of excitement around the kingdom, while presenting the young Hashemite royal as a new player on the global stage.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh slammed foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston's refusal to heed the House of Commons' call for him to step down as 'tone-deaf.'
The elevated walkway in Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar that collapsed during a school field trip, sending 16 children and one adult to hospital, was last repaired a decade ago.
The family of an engaged couple who were shot dead following a dispute with their landlord in Stoney Creek over the weekend released a statement of their loved ones, remembering them as 'two beautiful souls.'
Residents who wish to speak with the City of Montreal by calling 311 now have to attest they can receive services in English because of Bill 96. New provisions of the language law came into effect Thursday.
Several regions of the province have been hit by power outages. The total of Quebec customers without electricity stood at around 42,000 as of 8:30 p.m. Thursday. At its peak, Hydro-Quebec said 250 thousand customers had lost power.
OPP are looking for Matthew Daigneault — wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for a breach of statutory release. He is described as a white man about 6’ tall, 243 lbs, with a short/receding hairline.
Police say a man appeared to suffer from a medical incident while driving in Guelph, causing his vehicle to go off the road and hit a woman who was sitting on the grass.
The manufacturing company Injection Technologies Inc. has filed for bankruptcy and insolvency and a number of former Kitchener employees tell CTV News they have been terminated.
Researchers at Carleton University's Department of Electronics in Ottawa created a ground-breaking testing device to detect early signs of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s through biomolecular activities in a person’s saliva.
'That '70s Show' star Danny Masterson was led out in handcuffs from a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday and could get 30 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty on two of three counts of rape at his second trial, in which the Church of Scientology played a central role.
Huntsville OPP has charged a third girl in connection to an alleged assault captured on video at a local high school and shared on social media earlier this month.
As the Rainbow flag flew at schools across Ottawa on Thursday, the public school board says some parents kept their children home from school due to possible Pride activities.
An Iranian family living in Ottawa is desperately pleading for help and struggling to stay in Canada with their two young kids, after falling out of status and losing their jobs.
A Windsor murder trial that started in February and heard from dozens of witnesses is coming to a close as defence lawyers for the accused kicked off their closing summations Thursday.
Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk used a basketball analogy to describe where negotiations stand between the Liberals and Stellantis and guaranteed a Game 7 win.
Ontario has committed to paying a third of the cost to save a $5-billion electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont., premier Doug Ford said Thursday.
Premier Tim Houston repeated his calls for urgent firefighting help Thursday, asking Ottawa to “be proactive” with aid as multiple wildfires continue to burn out of control.
Halifax deputy fire chief David Meldrum says a new fire started Thursday afternoon on Prospect Road, near St. Margaret’s Bay Road, and “a large area of forest and brush are involved.”
Suncor Energy Inc. will cut 1,500 jobs by the end of the year, as new CEO Rich Kruger forges ahead with his mandate to reduce costs and improve the company's lagging financial performance.
Calgary police are hoping the public can help them identify a man wanted in the attempted sexual assault of a woman in the community of Royal Oak last week.
The elevated walkway in Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar that collapsed during a school field trip, sending 16 children and one adult to hospital, was last repaired a decade ago.
Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson formally apologized in the legislature Thursday to former residents of the Manitoba Developmental Centre, one of the country's last large institutional facilities for people with intellectual disabilities.
Last Door Recovery Society says it fired a contractor as soon as allegations of sexual assault surfaced online, but others say the organization was slow to act.
Mike Mercredi is staying back to protect his northern Alberta community from a nearby wildfire after hundreds of people were forced to evacuate the area.
Krispy Kreme will soon have a drive-thru and dine-in location in the Alberta capital, and that's just the beginning, the global doughnut giant and a local developer announced Thursday.
