Ontario plans to increase the minimum wage to $11 per hour on June 1, 2014, up from the current level of $10.25 an hour.
The increase would once again make Ontario’s minimum wage the highest in the country, tying it with Nunavut.
The new rate reflects the rise in the consumer price index (CPI) since the last minimum wage increase in 2010.
The government will also introduce legislation that would tie future minimum wage increases to the CPI.
Under the proposed legislation, increases would be announced by April 1 and come into effect on October 1.
“Increasing the minimum wage will help improve the standard of living for hard-working people across the province while ensuring that businesses have the predictability necessary to plan for the future,” says Premier Kathleen Wynne.
The proposed legislation would act on the recommendations of Ontario’s Minimum Wage Advisory Panel, which reported its findings earlier this week.
But some groups aren’t happy about the increase.
The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) warns that the Ontario government’s increase to the minimum wage will result in fewer jobs for youth.
“On one hand, the government is doing the right thing by giving our members the ability to plan for increases, but on the other hand, they mandate a large increase that wasn’t planned for,” says James Rilett, CRFA vice-president for Ontario. “This will increase costs to the restaurant industry by $287 million at a time when our members are being hit with a raft of other cost increases.”
Meanwhile, the Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage says the increase is not enough. It says a minimum wage of $11 an hour still locks Ontario workers 16% below the poverty line.
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