Economy

Minimum wage in Canada: By the numbers

Who pays what where and how it breaks down across the workforce
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(Shutterstock)
(Shutterstock)

Ontario is moving to raise its minimum wage by nearly a third by January, 2019.  The increase will take the rate in Ontario from $11.40 today to $14 next January and $15 a year later. The $15 hourly wage will match an announced increase in Alberta, scheduled to go into effect in October of next year.

What does that mean to the pay cheque of a minimum wage earner? At $15, a full-time, 40-hour-a-week minimum wage job would pay $600 a week or $31,200 a year, compared to $23,712 at the current level of $11.40. This is what the minimum wage looks like across the country and how it breaks down across the workforce.

Who earns what where

Alberta ‑ Currently, the minimum wage is $12.20 an hour, but it rises to $13.60 this year and $15 Oct. 1, 2018.

B.C. – $10.85 now and $11.25 or more later this year.

Manitoba – $11, with plans to raise it every year along with the rate of inflation.

New Brunswick – $11. Adjusted annually relative to the consumer price index.

Newfoundland & Labrador – $10.75 rising to $11 on Oct. 1, 2017.

Northwest Territories – $12.50

Nova Scotia – $10.85. Adjusted annually April 1 based on the consumer price index.

Nunavut – $13. Adjusted annually April 1.

Ontario – $11.40.

Prince Edward Island – $11.25.

Quebec – $10.75, rising to $11.25 per hour May 1.

Saskatchewan – $10.72. Adjusted annually Oct. 1 relative to the consumer price index and average hourly wage.

Yukon – $11.32. Adjusted annually April 1 based on the consumer price index.

Who gets paid minimum wage (2013 statistics)

Men – (5.5%) vs Women (8%)

Age group – 15-19 (50.2%)

Education – Less than high school diploma (20.4%) vs. University degree (2.6%)

Full time (3.4%) vs. Part time (21.8%)

Top sectors – Retail (17.4%) and Food & Accommodation (26.9%)

Proportion of workforce

  • Newfoundland and Labrador (5.9%)
  • PEI (9.3%)
  • Nova Scotia (5.9%)
  • New Brunswick (7.9%)
  • Quebec (6.2%)
  • Ontario (8.9%)
  • Manitoba (6%)
  • Saskatchewan (4.5%)
  • Alberta (1.8%)
  • B.C. (6.4%)

 With files from Canadian Press

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