Ontario raising minimum wage for gig workers to $15

Ontario will announce new legislation Monday that would hike up the minimum wage for gig workers, guaranteeing regular pay for the rideshare drivers and couriers who kept the province running during the rolling lockdowns experienced in the last two years.

Premier Doug Ford and Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, will announce the new Digital Platform Workers' Rights Act on Monday morning, a big step forward for gig workers earning unreliable pay.

The act would bring about a recurring pay period with a $15 minimum wage for gig workers, matching the provincial minimum.

In addition to setting a baseline minimum wage, the move would protect workers from reprisals, prevent operators of apps from withholding tips and require that they provide workers with notice and explanation if they are removed from the platform for more than one day.

Gig workers will also be provided with a better understanding of the platforms they work under, requiring operators to give them details on how algorithms, rating systems, and tip collection works.

The move comes on the heels of the provincial government introducing legislation to increase Ontario's minimum wage to $15 per hour back in January, though this initial pay raise did not cover gig workers.

"Every worker in the province deserves to earn at least minimum wage, and these companies have a responsibility—and they're going to be forced by law—to clearly tell workers on digital platforms how and when they're going to be paid," said McNaughton in an interview with CTV.

It's worth noting that, while the province would love to tell you otherwise, Doug Ford has been slow to bring the minimum wage up to meet the rising cost of life in the province.

Ford's government cancelled a planned $15 minimum wage upon taking office in 2018, a three-year wage freeze that only ended with a $1 increase last November in the face of the pandemic.

That announcement landed roughly a month after the province bumped up the minimum wage by just 10 cents to $14.35, a move not too well-received by struggling low-wage employees.