Provincial minimum wage jumps to over $15/hour

Minimum wage workers will be seeing a 60 cent pay raise starting tomorrow, June 1st.

The new increase is part of a four year plan the provincial government put in place in 2017 to gradually increase the minimum wage from $11.35 to $15.20. 

The government says the slow plan helped businesses adapt to the increase in cost. 

“In 2017, our government made a commitment to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by June 2021, through regular, measured and predictable increases,” said Harry Bains, Minister of Labour. “As of tomorrow, we will have achieved – and surpassed – that goal, making sure workers who need regular and fair wage increases are getting them.”

June 1st will also mark the end of the line for the different and lower minimum wage for liquor servers, which the government says disproportionately affected women. It will be replaced by the general minimum wage.

B.C now has the second highest minimum wages in the country, being beaten for first place by Nunavut’s $16/hour. 

In 2020, 12% of employees in B.C. (244,900) earned less than $15.20 an hour.