Ontario Minimum Wage Increase Takes Effect; most workers now earn at least $15.50 an hour

Ontarians earning minimum wage are waking up to a raise.

Starting Saturday, the general minimum wage is up 50 cents to $15.50 an hour – a move announced by the Ford government in April.

Students under 18 now earn $14.60 an hour, up from $14.10, while homeworkers — those who do paid work from home for employers — see a 55-cent increase , at $17.05 per hour.

The Ford government previously reversed a 2019 minimum wage increase to $15 from $14 an hour that had been planned by the former Wynne government.

The Progressive Conservatives then raised pay to $15 an hour in January this year, with Ford saying the increase was made to make life more affordable for people.

The 50-cent increase comes after Canada’s annual inflation rate hit a nearly 40-year high in June – and although it has slowed since, Statistics Canada reported in August that grocery store prices had increased at the fastest rate since 1981.

Labor Minister Monte McNaughton said the government recognizes Ontario families are grappling with the rising cost of living, but will continue to announce the wage increase scheduled for October each April. , which he says is determined by taking into account the inflation of the previous two years.

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