Ontario minimum wage to increase to $16.55 per hour on Oct. 1
Global News
It marks a 6.8 per cent boost from the current rate of $15.50 an hour, an increase tied to inflation.
TORONTO — Ontario’s minimum wage is set to rise to $16.55 an hour on Oct. 1.
It marks a 6.8 per cent boost from the current rate of $15.50 an hour, an increase tied to inflation.
The government says the increase means someone making minimum wage and working 40 hours per week would see their pay increase by nearly $2,200 per year.
Labour advocates and opposition critics have said Ontario should introduce a $20 minimum wage.
The Ontario Living Wage Network says a living wage in many parts of the province would be $19, but in the Greater Toronto Area it is over $23.
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton says the increase on Oct. 1 will go a long way toward helping people with the cost of living.
“I’m proud of my record around minimum wage, to increase it to $16.55 an hour, the highest of any province in the country,” he said.
“But I also want to be clear that minimum wage jobs should be a starting point and not an end point. That’s why we’re investing hundreds of millions of dollars to retrain and upskill workers for bigger paycheques.”