Increases to BC Minimum Wage Coming September 15, 2016

The Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour recently announced her Ministry is reviewing BC’s minimum wage. The minimum wage in BC is currently the lowest in Canada.

The Minister indicated she anticipates that there will be a modest increase above and beyond BC’s Consumer Price Index. According to Statistics Canada, BC’s Consumer Price Index has increased 20 cents since 2002.

BC’s minimum wage last increased on September 15, 2015, to $10.45 per hour. The September 2015 statutory amendment also provides for a number of other increases including:

• the minimum hourly wage rate for liquor servers increased to $9.20
• the minimum daily wage rate for live-in home support workers increased to $104.50 and for live-in camp leaders to $83.60
• resident caretakers are now entitled to receive $627.00 monthly plus $25.13 per suite for apartment buildings containing 9 to 60 residential suites, and $2,135.71 monthly for apartment buildings containing 61 or more residential suites.

The Minister’s statement is available at https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2016JTST0045-000474

Questions relating to the content of the article may be directed to Lindsie Thomson.