Premier Doug Ford has reinstated what he cancelled in 2018, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, effective Jan. 1.
Ford made the announcement this morning in Milton.
Ford’s PC government cancelled a wage increase to $15 that had been scheduled to happen in 2019.
It said a previous jump from $11.60 to $14 under the previous Liberal government was hard for many businesses, and companies needed time to catch up.
The province’s minimum hourly wage is currently $14.35, and the most recent increase on October 1st was 10 cents.
Increasing the province’s minimum wage to $15 an hour allows workers “to earn themselves bigger paychecks and build better lives for themselves and their loved ones,” advises Labour Minister Monte McNaughton.
McNaughton adds it’s a case of putting workers in the driver’s seat.
McNaughton stresses the government is ensuring workers who need help the most receive their fair share of the economic pie.
Special minimum wage rates are also proposed to increase:
- Students under the age of 18 who work 28 hours a week or less when school is in session, or work during a school break or summer holidays would see an increase from $13.50 to $14.10 an hour.
- Homeworkers (those who do paid work out of their own homes for employers) would see an increase from $15.80 an hour to $16.50 an hour.
- Hunting and fishing guides currently have a minimum rate of $71.75 for working less than five consecutive hours in a day, and $143.55 for working five or more hours in a day. Their new proposed rate would be $75.00 for working less than five consecutive hours in a day, and $150.05 for working five or more hours in a day.
