Canada: Ontario to Raise and Link Minimum Wage to Inflation Rates

After a four year freeze, Ontario is set to raise its minimum wage. On Monday, the Ontario Minimum Wage Advisory Panel (MWAP) made a recommendation to raise the province’s current rate of CAN$10.25. According to sources, Kathleen Wynne’s provincial government will approve the hike later this week.

MWAP’s recommendation calls for linking minimum wage increases to inflation rates. According to reports, the government plans to institute the raise retroactively from when the last increase occurred four years ago. Since 2010, the province’s cumulative inflation rate has been 6.7 percent, which would put the new minimum wage rate at $10.94. But according to Martin Regg Cohn, columnist for the Toronto Star, the government will round it up to $11.00.

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For the past year, Ontario labor groups have been calling for an increased minimum wage of $14.00, which would lift minimum wage workers to 10 percent over the poverty line.

In Canada, Ontario’s current $10.25 is in the middle of the pack for provinces and territories. Alberta has the lowest rate at $9.95 and Nunavut the highest at $11.00.

Source: The Toronto Star.