Ontario plans the following minimum wage increases
|
Minimum wage rate |
Rates from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017 |
Rates as of October 1, 2017 |
|
General minimum wage |
$11.40 per hour |
$11.60 per hour |
|
Student minimum wage |
$10.70 per hour |
$10.90 per hour |
|
Liquor servers minimum wage |
$9.90 per hour |
$10.10 per hour |
|
Hunting and fishing guides minimum wage |
$56.95 |
$58.00 |
|
Homeworkers wage |
$12.55 per hour |
$12.80 per hour |
These increases constitute a 20% jump in January 2018 and a total 30% increase, from present, by January 2019. Ontario will have the highest general minimum wage rates in North America, outside of specific U.S. cities.
Aside from the direct cost implications to employers (raising salaries), the need for appropriate salary differentials will inevitably mean rises in the wages paid to persons already earning more than minimum wage. Labour-intensive industries will feel the impact most dramatically; where those impacts force reductions in staffing, those decisions will mean additional redundancy costs.
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