Minimum wage in Canada

Under the Constitution of Canada, the responsibility for enacting and enforcing labour laws including minimum wages in Canada rests with the ten provinces. The three territories also having been granted this power by virtue of federal legislation. This means that each province and territory has its own minimum wage. The lowest general minimum wages in force currently is that of British Columbia and New Brunswick ($8.00/hour) and the highest is that of Nunavut ($10.00/hour). Some provinces allow lower wages to be paid to liquor servers and other tip earners, and/or to inexperienced employees. British Columbia allows employers to pay as little as $6/hour to new workers with less than 500 hours of work experience (about three months of full-time employment, six months half-time, or one year quarter-time). For those in the Yukon, the minimum wage rate applies to employees who are 17 years of age or over.

The federal government in years past has set its own minimum wage rates for workers in federal jurisdiction industries (railways for example). In 1996, however, the federal minimum wage was re-defined to be the general adult minimum wage rate of the province or territory where the work is performed. This means, for example, that a railway company could not legally pay a worker in British Columbia less than $8.00/hour regardless of the worker's experience.

This list of minimum wages in Canada collects the minimum wages in Canadian dollars (CAD) set by each province and territory of Canada. Assuming a 40-hour work week for 4.34 weeks a month, the monthly gross incomes of individuals earning the lowest and highest minimum wages in Canada are $1345 and $1519, respectively. Based on current exchange rates, Canadian minimum wages in every jurisdiction are comparable to the U.S. federal minimum wage rate of $6.55/hour (although BC's "training" wage is almost always below this level depending on exchange); however, critics of current minimum wage levels in Canada often claim that they are insufficient and advocate that they be raised to what they claim to be the living wage. The national New Democratic Party had called for a separate federal minimum wage of $10/hour (higher than any current provincial minimum), although as mentioned above, such a change could not be enforced on any employer operating under provincial jurisdiction (unless the province voluntarily agreed to harmonize its own minimum wage).

The following table is a list of hourly minimum wages for adult workers in Canada. The provinces which have their minimum wages in italics allow for lower wages under circumstances which are described under the "Comments" heading.

Note: The following table can be sorted alphabetically or numerically using the icon.

Jurisdiction	Wage (CAD)	Since	Comments
Alberta	8.80	April 1, 2009	Will be adjusted annually every April.
British Columbia	8.00	November 1, 2001	This wage applies only once a person has worked for more than 500 hours with one or more employers; the "First Job/Entry Level" minimum wage is $6.00/hour.
Manitoba	8.75	May 1, 2009	Increasing to $9.00 from 1 October 2009. Workers involved in Construction have a minimum wage starting at $12.60.
New Brunswick	8.00	April 15, 2009	Increasing to $8.25 on 1 September 2009.
Newfoundland and Labrador	9.00	July 1, 2009	Increasing to $9.50 on January 2, 2010 and $10.00 on July 1, 2010.
Northwest Territories	8.25	December 28, 2003
Nova Scotia	8.60	April 1, 2009	$8.10 for inexperienced workers (less than three months employed in the type of work they are hired to do). This is the first of three increases in the minimum wage over the next year and a half. By the fall of 2010, the minimum wage will be $9.65 an hour.
Nunavut	10.00	September 5, 2008	The highest in Canada.
Ontario	9.50	March 31, 2009	* Will increase by $0.75 per hour to reach $10.25 on March 31, 2010. Students (those under age 18 working under 28 hours per week during the school year [September to June]) is $8.90 Will be $9.60 on March 31, 2010 Liquor servers $8.25. Will be $8.90 on March 31, 2010 Homeworkers (includes students and overrides the student wage) $10.45 Will be $11.28 on March 31, 2010
Prince Edward Island	8.20	June 1, 2009	Increasing to $8.40 on 1 October 2009.
Quebec	9.00	May 1, 2009	Workers receiving gratuities receive $8.00.
Saskatchewan	9.25	May 1, 2009	Minimum Wage Increase Announced - Advanced Education, Employment and Labour - Government of Saskatchewan
Yukon	8.89	April 1, 2009	Yukon is currently the only jurisdiction in Canada to peg annual increases (every April 1st) in its minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index.

See also

• Minimum wage
• List of U.S. minimum wages
• List of minimum wages by country

External links

• Government of B.C., Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services, Employment Standards, Minimum Wage Fact Sheet
• Minimum Wages in Canada
• Murray, Stuart; Mackenzie, Hugh (2007). "Appendix: Nominal and real minimum wage data for all provinces, 1968–2005". Bringing minimum wages above the poverty line (PDF). Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. pp. 47–9. ISBN 978-0-88627-531-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)