BC’s minimum wage set to increase June 1

BC's minimum wage is set to increase to $17.40 from $16.75 on June 1.

The 3.9% increase will see the province have one of the highest minimum wages in the country, behind the Yukon at $17.59 per hour and Nunavut at $19 an hour. It's also 10 cents more than the federal minimum wage, which applies to businesses that are federally regulated.

BC's minimum wage has increased substantially in the last decade increasing by more than 65% from $10.45 in 2015.

According to the BC government, the June 1 increase will help out the 240,000 workers who currently earn minimum wage.

While the increase will no doubt be welcomed by those earning the lowest wage in society, the number is still far behind a living wage.

According to the organization Living Wage for Families BC, the living wage in Kelowna and Penticton is $24.60 an hour and in Kamloops it's $20.91.

The 3.9% minimum wage increase is based on the previous year's inflation increase. Early this year, the BC New Democratic Party amended the law to increase the minimum wage automatically each year, based on the previous year’s average inflation rate for BC.

Saskatchewan currently has the lowest minimum wage in the country at $14 an hour, although it will be increasing to $15 in the fall.

Alberta, which once had the highest minimum wage in the country, now sits at the bottom of the table with the minimum wage remaining at $15, where it was set in 2018.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.