British Columbia's lowest wage earners will get a pay raise when the general minimum wage increases from $16.75 to $17.40 per hour on June 1. “BC has gone from having one of the lowest minimum wages in the country to the highest of all the provinces,” said BC Labour Minister Harry Bains in a Monday press release. “We made a commitment to tie minimum-wage increases to the rate of inflation to prevent BC’s lowest-paid workers from falling behind.” To continue to support workers, Bains said the BC government would be “enshrining that commitment into law.”This increase represented a 3.9% raise — consistent with BC’s average rate of inflation in 2023. With the alternate minimum wages for residential caretakers, live-in home support workers and camp leaders, the BC government said they will go up by 3.9% on June 1. On December 31, it said the minimum piece rates for hand-harvested crops will increase by the same percentage. With the amendments in Bill 2, future increases to all minimum rates will be determined by the previous year’s average inflation rate for BC. This will provide certainty and predictability for workers and employers. The BC government confirmed most wage rates will increase on June 1 each year, except for agricultural piece rates that will increase on December 31 to ensure crop producers will not have to adjust wages in the middle of the harvest season. “As a fast food worker earning minimum wage, I welcome the government’s rule to increase wages with inflation annually, providing much-needed financial stability to cope with the rising cost of living,” said Richmond, BC, fast food worker Carmen Velasco. By raising the minimum wage, it said it will lift more people out of poverty, make life more affordable and build a strong, fair economy across the province. The minimum wage for workers in Ontario was raised almost 7% to $16.55 from $15.50 in October, sparking much debate over inflation and living and business costs. READ MORE: Ontario raises its minimum wage by more than one dollar ‘tied to inflation’Some people said the increase was not a livable wage and others worried about the impact of inflation and the rising cost to small businesses. The announcement was first made in March with the intent to give small businesses a chance to prepare.
