Nearly one million minimum wage workers in Ontario received a raise today.

On October 1, the minimum wage in Ontario, which allows low-wage employers to pay their workers per hour, increased from $15.50 to $16.55, representing a 6.8 percent increase.

For someone earning the general minimum wage and working 40 hours a week, this equates to an annual increase of about $2,200.

Here’s what you need to know about the new minimum wage:

Who is eligible for the wage payment?
Almost all workers in Ontario are eligible for the minimum wage.

An estimated 900,000 employees received the raise on Sunday, according to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, which includes various types of employment. All full-time, part-time, and casual employees are eligible, along with those who are paid hourly, by the piece, at a fixed rate, by commission, or salaried.

A list of selected jobs exempt from minimum wage provisions can be found on the Ontario government website.

What if I am in the middle of a pay period on October 1?
If a pay raise occurs during your pay period, the province states that “the pay period will be treated as if it were two separate pay periods and the employee will be entitled to at least the minimum wage applicable in each of those periods.”

What about the specific minimum wage?
The minimum wage for students, which applies to those under 18 who work 28 hours a week or less when school is in session or during the summer break, will increase by one dollar an hour, from $14.60 to $15.60.

Workers from home, who are paid for work done from home for employers, will see the minimum wage increase by $1.15, from $17.05 to $18.20.

Hunting, fishing, and wildlife guides will see their rates increase from $77.60 to $82.85 per day when working less than five consecutive hours in a day, and from $155.25 to $165.75 per day when working five hours or more in a day.

How has the minimum wage changed in recent years?
The $15 minimum wage was supposed to be implemented by 2019 under a plan set by the previous Liberal government, but Premier Doug Ford suspended it when he took office.

The province announced in 2021 that it would increase the minimum wage from $14.35 to $15 in January 2022. It was raised again from $15 to $15.50 in October 2022.

Some labor advocates have called on the province to implement a $20 minimum wage in Ontario.

The Workers' Action Centre wrote in a statement: “If Premier Ford did not cancel the planned increase to $15 set for January 2019 and the two-year cost-of-living adjustments, we would be much closer to a minimum wage of $17.95 this year.” It was published again in March, when the Sunday raise was first announced.

Will the minimum wage in Ontario increase in 2024?
According to the province, minimum wage rates are expected to rise annually on October 1. The province states that if new rates come into effect on October 1, 2024, it will be publicly announced on or before April 1, 2024.

What is the business community’s opinion?
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce stated that it supports scheduled minimum wage increases tied to inflation rates as they “give companies time to prepare.”

Daniel Safayeni, the Chamber's Vice President of Policy, stated: “We support the principle of fair compensation and planned wage increases being developed and implemented in close consultation with the business community so that companies have time to plan and implement changes.”

“We are acutely aware of the affordability challenges facing many workers struggling with rising living costs. Ensuring that the minimum wage keeps pace with inflation will, in part, help address affordability challenges at a time when Ontario is experiencing a record pace of net interprovincial migration losses.

The statement went on to say that “in the face of declining productivity, wage increases must be accompanied by greater investments from both the public and private sectors” to enhance “productivity” and improve the living standards of the province’s residents.

What is the minimum wage in other parts of Canada?
One province and one territory have minimum wage rates higher than Ontario. In British Columbia, the minimum wage is now $16.75 per hour, and in Yukon, it is $16.77.

Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have the lowest minimum wage rates at $14 and $14.75, respectively. Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador have set their minimum wage at $15 per hour.

In Quebec, the lowest amount that workers can earn is $15.25 per hour, which is $0.05 less than Manitoba’s minimum wage of $15.30. Nunavut has set the minimum wage at $16 per hour, and in the Northwest Territories, the minimum wage is $16.05.

The federal minimum wage, which applies to federally regulated private sector industries, including banks, postal services, and courier services, as well as air, rail, and interprovincial ground and marine transport, rose to $16.65 per hour on April 1, up from $15.55.

What is a living wage?
Each year, the Ontario Living Wage Network analyzes the hourly income that residents of the province need to earn to cover their living costs. It found that Ontario's minimum wage does not align closely with what is actually needed to cover living expenses in the province.

In its latest report, the group found that in most areas of Ontario, the living wage was over $19 per hour and over $23 per hour in the Greater Toronto Area.

They noted that the calculations were done against a “backdrop of record inflation and increases in the consumer price index,” adding that “workers at the lower end of the wage scale are the most vulnerable to these types of fluctuations.”

The report stated that “the living wage is an effective tool for combating working poverty by ensuring that employees can cover their expenses where they live.”

“By incorporating the expenses that a worker must cover, such as shelter, food, transportation, and more, our living wage is much closer to reality than the politically mandated minimum wage.”

Another report published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives this summer found that two minimum wage workers in Toronto would not earn enough to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the city.

The report stated, “The disparity between rent wages and minimum wage is that in most Canadian cities, minimum wage earners are unlikely to escape the need for basic housing.” “They are likely spending too much on rent, or living in very small units, or in many cases, both.”