Ontario’s general minimum wage will increase from $16.55 to $17.20 per hour on October 1, 2024. For students under 18 years old who work less than 28 hours per week, the minimum wage is going up from $15.60 to $16.20.
This increase is happening because Ontario workers fought and won a law 10 years ago that tied the minimum wage to inflation. As a result each year on October 1, the minimum wage has to increase as our cost of living increases. The only time our minimum wage did not increase was in 2018 to 2020 when Premier Ford froze the minimum wage. If your wages don’t go up or your boss did not pay you properly, call the Workers’ Action Centre phone line at 416-531-0778 for free and confidential support.
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3 Myths about Ontario’s Minimum Wage
1) Raising the minimum wage means prices will go up.
Increasing our minimum wage does NOT cause inflation. For example, when the Ontario minimum wage went up by 21% in 2018, the consumer price index (which measures prices of common goods and services) only went up by 2.4%. Furthermore, it’s not like prices stayed the same when Ontario’s minimum wage was frozen: Things still got more expensive between 1995 and 2002, and 2010 and 2014, when the minimum wage was frozen.
At the end of the day, we should not be worried about the workers who earn the least getting a little pay bump. Instead, let’s consider the fact that the richest 20% of the population owns 67% of Canada’s wealth, while the bottom 40% of us owns only 2.7%. This inequality is unacceptable and raising the minimum wage will help close this gap.
2) Increasing the minimum wage means my hours will be cut to save money. They might even cut my job!
If corporations like Walmart and Amazon have a successful year with record profits, where do you think the profits will go? Will they choose to increase workers’ wages and lower their prices? Or will it go into the pockets of the CEO and the company’s shareholders?
While some people think that corporations are forced to raise prices and cut hours or jobs to cover minimum wage increases, the truth is these decisions are made to maximize profit. Just take a look at Canadian grocery chains. On the one hand, they claim they are not price gouging customers and pay their workers fairly. On the other hand, they proudly report to their investors about record breaking revenue growth each year. For example, Loblaws’ 2024 first quarter profit was $459 million, a 9.8 percent increase from the previous year. Workers’ wages can and should increase too.
3) There is nothing we can do to raise the minimum wage. It’s decided by the politicians at Queen’s Park.
Your working conditions only change when you and workers like you stand up and fight for it. The law that annually increases Ontario’s minimum wage to inflation only happened in 2014 because workers fought for it! And Workers’ Action Centre members along with workers across Ontario didn’t stop there: we successfully pushed the government to increase the minimum wage from $11.60 to $14 in 2018.
When workers organize, we can win. Whether it’s fighting back against bad bosses or changing our labour laws to raise the minimum wage, you and your coworkers’ actions can make a difference.