List of minimum wages in Canada

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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 as of 2008 are that of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick ($7.75/hour) and the highest is that of Ontario ($8.75/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 an inexperienced worker.

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/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 higher than the U.S. federal minimum wage rate of $5.85/hour; 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 New Democratic Party had called for a separate federal minimum wage of $10/hour (higher than any current provincial minimum),^[1] 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.

Jurisdiction	Wage (CAD)	Since	Comments
Alberta	8.40	April 1, 2008	Will be adjusted annually every April.[2]
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	8.50	April 1, 2008	Increased from $8.00
New Brunswick	7.75	March 31, 2008	Increased from $7.25.
Newfoundland and Labrador	8.00	April 1, 2008	Planned increase to $10.00 by 2010.[3]
Northwest Territories	8.25	December 28, 2003
Nova Scotia	8.10	May 1, 2008	$7.60 for inexperienced workers (less than three months employed in the type of work they are hired to do).[4]
Nunavut	8.50	March 3, 2003
Ontario	8.75	March 31, 2008	Will increase by $0.75 per hour annually to reach $10.25 on March 31, 2010.[5] The minimum wages in effect for those under age 18 working under 28 hours per week is $8.20 and liquor servers $7.60. [6]
Prince Edward Island	7.75	May 1, 2008
Quebec	8.50	May 1, 2008	Workers receiving gratuities receive $7.75 & for those in the clothing industry, the minimum wage rate is $8.75.[7] [8]
Saskatchewan	8.60	May 1, 2008	Increases to $9.25 on May 1, 2009.[9]
Yukon	8.58	April 1, 2008	Yukon is currently the only jurisdiction in Canada to peg annual increases (every April 1st) in its minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index.[10][11]

[edit] See also

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

[edit] 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 (March 2007). "Appendix: Nominal and real minimum wage data for all provinces, 1968–2005", Bringing minimum wages above the poverty line. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, pp. 47–9. ISBN 978-0-88627-531-0. 

[edit] References