Ontario’s Minimum Wage Goes Up To $16.55

September 28, 2023September 28, 2023 Top Quality Canada canada, Minimum wage, ontario

On October 1, 2023, the minimum wage in Ontario is expected to increase, raising incomes for more than a million people in the province by more than a dollar per hour. Based on the increase from March to March, Statistics Canada’s Ontario all-items CPI index is used to determine the minimum wage in Ontario. This year, the inflationary amount equals a 6.8% increase.

As a result, the standard minimum wage will rise by $1.05 per hour to $16.55. The minimum wage increases to $15.60 an hour for those who are under the age of 18.

The provincial minimum daily rate for hunting, fishing, and wilderness guides will also increase from $77.60 to $82.85 for jobs under five hours to $155.25 to $165.75 for sessions longer than five hours. The general minimum wage in British Columbia increased in June from $15.65 to $16.75, and other provinces and territories, including the Yukon, pay more ($16.77 an hour as of April). While this is the case, the nation’s lowest lawful hourly rate for jobs under federal regulation has just increased to $16.65 to keep up with inflation.

Even with this increase, many people maintain that the minimum wage in Ontario (and all income in general) is insufficient to support a family in areas like Toronto, where rent is an average of $2,898 per month and rising, with one-bedroom apartments costing an outrageous $2,620 and the typical room in a shared home costing tenants $1,302.

This much needed minimum wage increase is more than welcome and everything counts when flipping that coin five times at the end of the month. Yet, this minimum wage increase also means that employers like Restaurant and Coffee Shop owners will be under even more pressure.

In recent years and months the hardest hit businesses were Restaurants and Coffee Shops where throughout entire Canada we could see a pandemic of closures.

For minimum wage workers and students, this wage increase will be more than welcome, for business owners who struggle, this wage increase could be the final nail in the coffin.