sa国际传媒鈥檚 minimum wage is set to surpass $15 an hour on June 1, the highest of any province in sa国际传媒.
The increase is an extra 60 cents an hour, going from $14.60 to $15.20 an hour on Tuesday.
Over the last four years, the province鈥檚 minimum wage has steadily gone up from $11.35 an hour in 2017 as part of the NDP government鈥檚 pledge to give the province鈥檚 lowest paid workers a pay boost.
After this wage hike, the minimum wage will be tied to inflation.
鈥淚n 2017, our government made a commitment to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by June 2021, through regular, measured and predictable increases,鈥� said Minister of Labour Harry Bains in a news release on Monday. 鈥淎s of tomorrow, we will have achieved 鈥� and surpassed 鈥� that goal, making sure workers who need regular and fair wage increases are getting them.鈥�
The wage increase means sa国际传媒 will have the second-highest minimum wage in sa国际传媒 after Nunavut, which has a minimum wage of $16 an hour.
Liquor servers, who used to earn a lower minimum wage of $13.95 an hour, will now earn the general minimum wage of $15.20 an hour.
The former lower minimum wage for liquor servers was discriminatory as it disproportionately affected women, said the ministry of labour.
鈥淢ost minimum wage earners are women, often racialized women and newcomers who face barriers to accessing better-paying jobs,鈥� said Grace Lore, parliamentary secretary of gender equity. 鈥淲e need to work towards wages that workers can actually live on instead of being held back by.鈥�
Live-in camp leader minimum wages are set to rise from $116.86 to $121.65 per month.
A resident caretaker鈥檚 monthly wage goes up to $912.28 plus $36.56 per suite for those who manage nine to 60 residential suites to $3,107.42 for 61 or more suites.
According to the labour ministry, in 2020 about 121,000 people, or six per cent of employees in sa国际传媒, earned minimum wage or less. About double that earned less than $15.20 an hour.
The sa国际传媒 Greens welcomed the new minimum wage, which was recommended by the Fair Wages Commission.
鈥渟a国际传媒 has the highest cost of living and the highest levels of wealth inequality in the country,鈥� said sa国际传媒 Greens leader Sonia Furstenau in a statement, adding even $15.20 an hour is not a livable wage in most parts of the province.
She called on the province to work with business, labour, and economists to develop a path towards a livable wage.
