Over 935,000 Ontario workers will benefit from the new minimum wage starting this October
Ontario’s minimum wage will rise to $17.20 an hour on October 1, marking a 3.9 percent increase from the current rate of $16.55 per hour, as reported by Global News.
The provincial government has confirmed this increase, which is part of the annual adjustment under the Employment Standards Act, tied to Ontario’s inflation levels.
This new wage will make Ontario’s minimum wage the second highest in the country, following British Columbia’s rate of $17.40 per hour.
Ontario Labour Minister David Piccini first announced the upcoming wage hike in March, explaining that sharing the news early would provide “certainty and predictability” for businesses.
The government estimates that a full-time worker earning the general minimum wage, working 40 hours per week, will receive an additional $1,355 annually with the increase. In 2023, around 935,600 workers were earning at or below the new $17.20 per hour rate.
Although this increase will place Ontario near the top in terms of minimum wage across the provinces, the Ontario Living Wage Network highlighted that the actual living wage varies across the province.
In 2023, they reported a minimum living wage of $18.65 per hour in southwestern Ontario, with the highest figure being $25.05 per hour in the Greater Toronto Area.
Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government had previously cancelled a planned wage increase to $15 per hour when they took office in 2018.
However, they later raised it to $15 in January 2022 and linked subsequent increases to inflation adjustments.
