Ontario’s minimum wage will increase starting Oct. 1. Here’s what you need to know

Were it not for wage freezes in 2018 by Doug Ford’s government, minimum wage would be nearly $18 beginning next month, one advocate said.

Thestar.com
Sept. 28, 2023
Manuela Vega

Starting this weekend, the province’s lowest-paid workers will get a pay bump.

On Oct. 1, Ontario’s general minimum wage will rise from $15.50 to $16.55 per hour.

The 6.8 per cent hike is tied to the rate of inflation for 2023, in line with legislation introduced by Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government in 2014.

“The only reason why we’re getting this increase is because workers fought for this cost-of-living adjustment to be enshrined in our legislation nine years ago,” said Deena Ladd, the executive director of the Workers’ Action Centre.

But she -- and other advocates considering the cost of living in the province -- believe the minimum wage should be at least $20.

Here’s a closer look at the changes ahead, the impact on workers and the legislative changes behind the increase.

Who will see minimum wage increases starting Oct. 1?
Liquor servers, who until 2021 were subject to a lower minimum wage, are now entitled to the general minimum wage.

Students, who are still subject to a lower minimum wage, will begin earning $15.60 on Oct. 1, up from the current $14.60. This pay rate applies to people under 18 who work 28 hours per week or less when school is in session or work during a school break or summer vacation.

People who work from home will be entitled to $18.20 per hour, an increase from the current $17.05 threshold. These jobs include answering calls for a call centre, sewing clothes at home for a manufacturer, and coding for a tech company. Students under 18 who work from home are also entitled to this pay rate.

Hunters, fishers and wilderness guides will begin earning at least $82.85 when working less than five consecutive hours in a day, or $165.75 when they work five or more hours in a day. Until Oct. 1, the minimum wage for these workers is $77.60 when working less than five consecutive hours in a day, or $155.25 when they work five or more hours in one day.

Minimum wage still falls short of a living wage in Ontario
According to a November 2022 report by the Ontario Living Wage Network, a living wage in Ontario is around $20 per hour, and $23.15 in the Greater Toronto Area.

Not even a severe recession could make Toronto’s real estate market affordable, according to a Desjardin report published in this month.

The city’s rental market isn’t getting relief either, as the cost of a single bedroom in a shared apartment reaches the new height of $1,300. Studio prices, meanwhile, have risen to an average $2,100 while one-bedrooms cost $2,600.

Canadians across the country are facing rising food prices, paying 8.5 per cent more for groceries this July than they did the year before.

“Even after this 6.8 per cent raise, a full-time minimum wage worker in the GTA will still be short by $260 a week in trying to make ends meet. It’s not just Toronto. In fact, there’s nowhere in the province where you can survive off the minimum wage, now, or after Oct. 1,” said Craig Pickthorne, communications co-ordinator for the Ontario Living Wage Network, in a statement to the Star.

According to the organization’s report, a worker in London would need to earn $18.05 per hour to earn a living wage, while a worker in Hamilton would need $19.05 and an Ottawa worker would need $19.60.

The Ontario Living Wage Network uses the costs of basic necessities -- such as housing, food, clothing and transportation -- as well as government benefits to make its calculations.

“Over 600 employers in Ontario rely on these calculations so they can be certain they are not holding anyone in working poverty, proving that there is another way to do business,” Pickthorne added in the statement.

The group’s latest report will be published this November.

Wages are lagging due to changes by Ford government, advocate says
Deena Ladd, the executive director of the Workers’ Action Centre, credits the increase to the Kathleen Wynne government’s 2014 changes to the Employment Standards Act, saying changes introduced by the Doug Ford government have actually held workers back from earning thousands of dollars over the years.

“If Doug Ford hadn’t taken away the wages back in 2019, and hadn’t frozen the minimum wage, we would be most likely at nearly $18 right now,” Ladd said.

Those cuts also led workers to lose between $3,000 and $6,000 over the last four or five years, Ladd said, “money ... which workers desperately need in terms of dealing with the affordability crisis right now.”

That said, Ladd said she is “happy” to see a $1.05 change in wages for workers.

Last year, the Daily Bread Food Bank released a report that found a $1 increase in the minimum wage would reduce annual Toronto food bank visits by nearly 37,000.

The Ontario government under Wynne’s previous leadership brought forth the plan to increase the minimum wage to $14 in 2018, and bump it to $15 in 2019 before it would go on to match the rate of inflation each year.

Soon after, Doug Ford’s newly-elected government announced it would cancel the $15 increase that had been planned for 2019, keeping the minimum wage at $14 until 2020. Ladd noted that Ford froze the inflation-matching increases until October 2022.

But in 2021, amid the pandemic and a cost of living crisis, Ford announced a $15 minimum wage that would take effect January 2022. The changes came months ahead of the election period and mounting pressure from the Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union.

Then, last October, the wage hike tied to inflation pushed the general minimum wage up to today’s $15.50.

“At this particular moment, where we see a huge affordability crisis for many workers, who are struggling with astronomical rents, huge food prices, I think that the minimum wage needs to be $20,” Ladd said.