The Ontario government recently released their 2021 Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: Build Ontario plan, which includes the province’s proposal to increase the general minimum wage for Ontarians.
On November 2, 2021, the Ontario government announced their plan to introduce legislation that, if passed, would raise the general minimum wage from $14.35 per hour to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2022.
The proposed legislation would also eliminate the special minimum wage rate for liquor servers (which is currently $12.55 per hour). As of January 1, 2022, liquor servers would therefore be entitled to the proposed general minimum wage rate increase of $15.00 per hour.
Other groups of individuals who are currently subject to special minimum wage rates would also see the following increases under the proposed legislation:
- students under the age of eighteen who work twenty-eight hours a week or less when school is in session, or work during a school break or summer holidays would see an increase from $13.50 to $14.10 per hour;
- homeworkers (those who do paid work out of their own homes for employers) would see an increase from $15.80 to $16.50 per hour; and
- hunting and fishing guides would see an increase in their minimum wage rate for working less than five consecutive hours a day from $71.75 to $75.00 per hour, and an increase in their minimum wage rate for working more than five consecutive hours in a day from $143.55 to $150.05.
We will continue to monitor for any updates regarding the proposed minimum wage increase and will provide further details once they become available.
This blog is provided as an information service and summary of workplace legal issues.
This information is not intended as legal advice.
