Ontario to increase minimum wage to $16.55 an hour this weekend

The minimum wage increase announced by the Ontario government on March 31, 2023 comes into effect on October 1, 2023. The province’s general minimum wage will increase from $15.50/hr to $16.55/hr.

RCC’s stance on the minimum wage has long been that increases should be predictable instead of driven by political whim. RCC has asked in many jurisdictions that they index annually by CPI inflation. In Ontario, our minimum wage is indexed to CPI inflation.

As members know, last year saw an unprecedently high inflationary environment. Minimum wage in Ontario is calculated using Statistics Canada’s Ontario all-items CPI index, based on the increase from March to March – this year, that inflationary figure represents an increase of 6.8%.

This means the general minimum wage will increase a $1.05 an hour to $16.55. For students under 18, the minimum wage rises from $14.60 an hour to $15.60 an hour. Ontario harmonized the minimum wage for liquor servers with the general minimum wage last year – there continues to be no unique minimum wage here as a result.