Surf Wiki
Save to docs
law

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Minimum wage in Canada

none

Summary

none

Under the Constitution of Canada, the responsibility for enacting and enforcing labour laws, including the minimum wage, rests primarily with the ten Provinces of Canada. The three Territories of Canada have a similar power, delegated to them by federal legislation. Some provinces allow lower wages to be paid to liquor servers and other gratuity earners or to inexperienced employees.

The Government of Canada has the constitutional authority to set minimum wages only for employees within federal jurisdiction, such as federal public servants and workers in industries that are under federal regulatory jurisdiction, such as banks, airlines and interprovincial railways. The federal government earlier set its own minimum wage rates for workers under its jurisdiction. In 1996, however, the federal minimum wage was redefined to be the general adult minimum wage rate of the province or territory where the work is performed. Following the 2021 budget, the Government of Canada reestablished a federal minimum wage for federally regulated industries on December 29, 2021.

Demographics

In 2013, 50% of minimum wage workers were between the ages of 15 and 19; in 1997, it was 36%. 50.2% of workers in this age group were paid minimum wage in 2013, an increase from 31.5% in 1997. Statistics Canada notes that "youth, women and persons with a low level of education were the groups most likely to be paid at minimum wage."

According to one study, in 2019, 62% of people on minimum wage in Quebec worked part time, and 61% were aged 15 to 24.

Minimum wage levels by jurisdiction

Assuming a 40-hour workweek and 52 paid weeks per year, the annual gross employment income of an individual earning the minimum wage in Canada is between C$31,200 (in Alberta) and C$41,080 (in Nunavut).

The following table lists the hourly minimum wages for adult workers in each province and territory of Canada. The provinces which have their minimum wages in bold allow for lower wages under circumstances which are described under the "Comments" heading.

Note: The following table can be sorted by Jurisdiction, Wage, or Effective date using the [[File:Sort both.gif]] icon.

JurisdictionWage (C$/h)Effective dateCommentsIndexation Formula
Federal17.75April 1, 2025For workers under federal jurisdiction only. The provincial or territorial minimum wage applies if it is higher.Each April 1, based on Canada CPI for the previous calendar year.
Alberta15.00October 1, 2018
British Columbia17.85June 1, 2025Expected indexation based on formula: $18.25 on June 1, 2026Each June 1 (started in 2022), based on British Columbia CPI for the previous calendar year.
Manitoba16.00October 1, 2025Each October 1, based on Manitoba CPI for the previous calendar year, unless the government decrees a freeze due to economic conditions. There were additional increases of $1.15 on October 1, 2022, and $0.65 on April 1, 2023.
New Brunswick15.65April 1, 2025Expected indexation based on formula: $15.90 on April 1, 2026Each April 1, based on New Brunswick CPI for the previous calendar year. The minimum wage was lifted to $12.75 on April 1, 2022, and there was an additional increase of $1.00 on October 1, 2022.
Newfoundland and Labrador16.00April 1, 2025Expected indexation based on formula: $16.35 on April 1, 2026Each April 1 (resumed in 2024), based on Canada CPI for the previous calendar year. There were additional increases of $0.50 on October 1, 2020, $0.25 on April 1, 2021, $0.25 on October 1, 2021, $0.50 on October 1, 2022 and $0.50 on October 1, 2023. On April 1, 2023, the minimum wage was increased by $0.80 in lieu of indexation.
Northwest Territories16.95September 1, 2025Each September 1 (started in 2023), based on the changes in the Yellowknife CPI and in the average hourly wage in the Northwest Territories as measured by Statistics Canada for the previous calendar year.
Nova Scotia16.50October 1, 2025To be increased to 16.75 on April 1, 2026 and 17.00 on October 1, 2026Each April 1, based on Canada CPI for January through November of the previous calendar year plus, starting in 2023, 1%. In 2019 and 2021, an extra $0.30 was added before applying indexation. In 2020, the minimum wage was increased by $1.00 in lieu of indexation. There were early increases of $0.25 on October 1, 2022 and $0.50 on October 1, 2023. There was an additional increase of $0.80 on October 1, 2025, while $0.25 of the 2026 increase is delayed to October 1, 2026.
Nunavut19.75September 1, 2025Each September 1 (started in 2025), based on the average of the changes in the Iqaluit CPI and in the average hourly wage (excluding overtime, for employees paid by the hour) in Nunavut as measured by Statistics Canada for the previous calendar year.
Ontario17.60October 1, 2025Each October 1 (resumed in 2020), based on Ontario CPI for the previous calendar year. There was an additional increase of $0.65 on January 1, 2022.
Prince Edward Island16.50October 1, 2025To be increased to $17.00 on April 1, 2026
Quebec16.10May 1, 2025
Saskatchewan15.35October 1, 2025Each October 1 (resuming in 2025), based on the average of the changes in the Saskatchewan CPI and in the average hourly wage in Saskatchewan as measured by Statistics Canada for the previous calendar year, subject to Cabinet approval. The minimum wage was lifted to $13.00 on October 1, 2022, and there were increases of $1.00 in lieu of indexation in 2023 and 2024.
Yukon17.94April 1, 2025Expected indexation based on formula: $18.50 or 18.51 on April 1, 2026, depending on roundingEach April 1, based on Whitehorse CPI for the previous calendar year. In 2019, an extra $0.90 was added before applying indexation. In 2020, an extra $0.75 was added after applying indexation. In 2021, an extra $1.35 was added on August 1.

Notes

References

References

  1. (December 17, 2021). "Federal minimum wage to rise to $15 per hour on December 29".
  2. (June 5, 2014). "The ups and downs of minimum wage". Statistics Canada.
  3. Suburban, Joel Goldenberg The. (January 26, 2022). "Quebec right to avoid significant minimum wage hike: MEI".
  4. "Current and Forthcoming General Minimum Wage Rates in Canada". canada.ca.
  5. (July 9, 2023). "Canada Labour Code".
  6. "Minimum wage". alberta.ca.
  7. "Employment Standards Act".
  8. "Employment Standards - Employment Standards".
  9. "C.C.S.M. c. E110".
  10. "Minimum Wage Additional Adjustment Regulation".
  11. "C.C.S.M. c. E110".
  12. "Minimum Wage Employment Standards Act".
  13. "CNLR 781/96 - Labour Standards Regulations under the Labour Standards Act".
  14. (February 21, 2020). "Provincial Government Announces Increases to Minimum Wage".
  15. "Provincial Government Releases Minimum Wage Review Committee Report".
  16. "Minimum Wage - Education, Culture and Employment".
  17. "Minimum Wage Order (General) - Labour Standards Code (Nova Scotia)".
  18. "R-020-2025 - Wages Regulations, amendment".
  19. "Minimum wage".
  20. (January 1, 2019). "Employment Standards Act, 2000, S.O. 2000, c. 41".
  21. "Wages - Employees receiving tips - CNESST".
  22. (January 22, 2026). "Le taux général du salaire minimum passera à 16,60 $ l'heure le 1er mai 2026".
  23. "The Minimum Wage Regulations, 2014".
  24. "Minimum Wage Will Increase to $13 Per Hour This Year, $15 by 2024".
  25. (2021-07-28). "Order-in-Council 2021/103, Employment Standards Act".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

canada-law-related-lists labour-relations-in-canada minimum-wage-by-country canadian-labour-law
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Minimum wage in Canada — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report