Minimum wage workers across Ontario will see a small pay raise next month.
Starting October 1, Ontario’s minimum wage will go up from $17.20 to $17.60 an hour. For someone working 40 hours a week, that’s about $835 more per year.
The provincial government says it bases the yearly increase on the Ontario Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures changes in the cost of goods and services. This year’s 2.4% increase makes Ontario’s minimum wage the second-highest in Canada, after British Columbia’s $17.85 rate.
However, some experts say the CPI doesn’t fully reflect the real costs people face, like housing. Advocacy groups calculate a “living wage” each year, which is the amount someone needs to earn to cover basic expenses such as rent, food, transportation, and childcare.
Last year, the living wage in the Greater Toronto Area was found to be $26 an hour, up from $25.05 the year before. New numbers for this year are expected in November.
Economists point out that while the 40-cent raise helps, it may not be enough. They say two main reasons have caused Ontario’s minimum wage to fall behind: high inflation in 2023 and the fact that wages for Canada’s lowest-paid workers didn’t grow faster than inflation during the pandemic, unlike in some other countries.
One economist explained that while this year’s increase matches inflation, a bigger raise might be needed to catch up after the past few years.
