Ontario Increases Minimum Wage to $16.55 per hour on October 1

Ontario, Canada, is set to increase the minimum wage from $15.50 to $16.55 per hour on October 1. This new wage will mark a 6.8% increase from the current rate, which is linked to inflation. Employees who earn minimum wage and work 40 hours a week will see an increase in their annual income by approximately $2,200.

• Special Minimum Wage Increases

Ontario will also increase the minimum wage for specific groups of workers. Students under the age of 18 who work 28 hours or less per week while school is in session, during a school vacation or summer holiday, will receive a wage increase from $14.60 to $15.60 per hour. Additionally, employees who work from home for companies must be paid at least $18.20 per hour, up from $17.05.

Hunting, fishing, and wilderness guides will also receive an increase in the minimum salary. Those who work less than five consecutive hours in a day will see an increase from $77.60 to $82.85, while those working five or more hours in a day will see an increase from $155.25 to $165.75.

• Calls for Higher Minimum Wage

Despite the wage increase, labor organizations and opposition opponents have called for a higher minimum wage. They have suggested that the minimum wage should be set at $20 per hour. According to the Ontario Living Wage Network, the living wage in many regions of the province is $19, and it is more than $23 in the Greater Toronto Area.

Below is the breakdown of Living Wages in Ontario as per Ontario Living Wage Network as updated in February 2023.

Minimum Wage in Canada and All The Canadian Provinces

• Portable Benefits Plan

Ontario is developing a portable benefits plan that will give health and dental benefits tied to a worker rather than a business. This program is intended to cover employees without benefits in the gig economy, retail, and hospitality, as well as those who may change occupations during their lifetime. A task team is set to produce a design for it in the summer.

The Labor Minister, Monte McNaughton, stated that minimum wage jobs should be a starting point and not an end point. Therefore, the government is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in retraining and upskilling workers for bigger paychecks.

Ontario is set to increase the minimum wage on October 1, 2023, to $16.55 per hour. Along with this, the special minimum wage for students, those working from home, and hunting, fishing, and wilderness guides will also increase. Despite the wage increase, some labor organizations and opposition opponents have called for a higher minimum wage. The government is also working on a portable benefits plan to provide health and dental benefits to workers rather than businesses.