Ontario will raise minimum wage to $15 by January 2019
- Published
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is raising the minimum wage to C$15.
Canada's largest province has passed legislation that will increase the minimum wage to C$15 ($11.14, £8.66) an hour.
Ontario's legislature passed a bill on Wednesday that included the increase as part of an overhaul of labour laws.
The minimum wage will be raised in two steps, from C$11.40 to C$14 next January and then to C$15 a year later.
After 2019, the minimum wage will be tied to inflation.
Government figures indicate that the median hourly wage in 2016 was C$13 for part-time workers and C$24.73 for full-time workers in the province.
Alberta also plants to raise its wage to C$15 in October 2018. That would give Ontario the highest wage in the country for most of 2018.
The reforms also include changes to paid vacations, emergency and sick leave, and equal pay for part-time or casual workers doing the same job as full-time employees.
Ontario Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne's government has been struggling in the polls and faces an election challenge in June 2018.
In recent months, she has introduced a minimum income pilot project, free medication for people under 30 and expanded rent controls, both moves popular with large portions of the population.
But not everyone supports the minimum wage increase.
A number of business groups, including Ontario's Chamber of Commerce, have warned they might not be able to absorb the increased costs.
The Progressive Conservative opposition has warned it will make the wage hike an election issue.
The province's independent financial watchdog predicted in September that the higher minimum wage would increase payroll costs and cause job losses for lower income workers, though some losses would be offset by higher labour income and household spending.
The financial accountability office estimated a net loss of about 50,000 jobs, mainly among younger workers.
The fight for a $15 minimum wage started in the United States.
In 2014, Seattle became the first major city in the United States to pass a $15 minimum wage into law.
California, New York and Washington, DC are all phasing in a $15 minimum wage.
- Published16 August 2017
