Ontario raises minimum wage to $11.25
Ontario Liberal government previously increased baseline wage in 2014
Ontario will have the second highest minimum wage in Canada as of October, after the province announced Thursday it will boost the baseline wage this fall.
The minimum wage will rise from $11 to $11.25 per hour, as of Oct. 1, the government said in a news release. That will put Ontario just behind the Northwest Territories, which plans to raise its minimum wage to $12.50 this June. Currently, according to the Retail Council of Canada, Ontario and Nunavut have the highest minimum wages in the country.
Special minimum wages, for groups like students and homeworkers, are also going up in Ontario.
The Ministry of Labour’s news release said the increase keeps the minimum wage in step with a recent increase to Ontario’s Consumer Price Index, the main measurement of inflation.
On Twitter, premier Kathleen Wynne said the move was designed to help lower-income families keep up with cost of living increases.
The government raised the minimum wage to $11 in 2014 — then an increase of 75 cents — which marked the first time the benchmark wage had gone up since 2010.
Most minimum wage-earners work in the accommodation, food, retail and agriculture sectors, the government said.
To support low- and middle-income families and keep up with inflation, we’re raising the minimum wage to $11.25. <a href="http://t.co/fc20vutjDS">http://t.co/fc20vutjDS</a>
—@Kathleen_WynneCorrections
- This story originally reported Ontario would have the highest minimum wage in Canada as of Oct. 1. It will in fact have the second highest, because the Northwest Territories plans to raise its minimum wage on June. 1, 2015.Mar 19, 2015 12:17 PM ET