Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the tentative agreement reached with CUPE over the weekend will provide lower-paid union members with a "significant wage increase" equivalent to about 4.2 percent annually.

Lecce also made the remarks to reporters at Queen’s Park on Monday as he discussed the eleventh-hour deal to avoid a strike that would have halted in-person learning in most boards starting this morning.

However, CUPE members still need to ratify the agreement, a process expected to take until Sunday to complete.

"We will respect the ratification process, but I will note that for the lower-paid worker, and I’ll use their average of $39,000 (salary), this deal represents a 4.2 percent annual increase every year," Lecce said, adding: "It’s a significant increase from where we started and that’s what we set out to do, to help lower-paid employees but all workers benefit from this deal and frankly all families and taxpayers benefit through stability for kids."

CUPE also said the tentative agreement provides a one-dollar hourly wage increase for all workers, which amounts to an annual increase of 3.59 percent when calculated across its members' average.

But Laura Walton, president of the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) in CUPE, told reporters Sunday evening that the government refused to budge on anything else "when it comes to new service funding and job protections in schools." She said it is ultimately up to the members to decide whether they are comfortable ratifying an agreement that "falls short" in some areas.