Canada is raising the federal minimum wage next month

According to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), the federal minimum wage is set to reach $17.30 per hour, effective April 1, 2024.

On the same date last year, the government raised the federal hourly minimum wage from $15.55 to $16.65.

All wage increases are based on Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the previous calendar year.

Statistics Canada reports that the CPI rose 3.9 per cent on an annual average basis in 2023, following a 40-year high increase of 6.8 per cent in 2022 and a 3.4 per cent increase in 2021.

The agency noted in January that "aside from 2022, the annual average increase in 2023 is the largest since 1991."

Per Canadian law firm Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, the federal minimum wage applies to employees and interns working in the federally regulated private sector, including businesses like banks, telecommunications companies, and interprovincial air, marine, rail and road transportation.

Provincial vs. federal minimum wage

Many provinces are also raising their hourly minimum wages on April 1, including New Brunswick ($15.30), Yukon ($17.59), Newfoundland and Labrador ($15.60), and Nova Scotia ($15.20) and Prince Edward Island ($15.40). Another increase will come to Prince Edward Island on October 1 ($16).

Saskatchewan will also see the minimum increase to $15 on October 1, and BC will raise it to $17.40 an hour on June 1, up from the 2023 rate of $16.75 an hour.

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP says that if the minimum wage in a province or territory is higher than the federal number, federally regulated employers in the province must apply the higher rate.

For more information on the increase, visit this government page or contact the Labour Program at 1-800-641-4049.

Do you think these increases will be enough for Canadians to navigate inflation and the cost of living crisis? Let us know in the comments.

With files from Isabelle Docto and Laine Mitchell