The Quebec government announced that the minimum wage in the province will increase from the current $15.25 per hour to $15.75 per hour starting from May 1st, an increase of 3.28%.

According to the Ministry of Labor, 200,700 workers will be affected by this increase, including 111,200 women, representing 55.4%.

The government of the second largest Canadian province in terms of population and economic size decided to increase the minimum wage by only 50 cents "due to the economic uncertainty" that particularly affects the retail and restaurant sectors, which are currently going through a difficult situation with many closures.

"We must understand that a significant wage increase can have a negative impact and create great pressure on employers, which consequently causes closures in the retail, restaurant, or accommodation sectors, which is undesirable, with all the harmful consequences this might have for the Quebec economy," said Quebec's Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, yesterday.

The government wants the minimum wage to remain approximately 50% of the average wage, which with the upcoming increase will equal 50.8%.

Minister Boulet pointed out that the announced increase rate of 3.28% will be "higher than the expected inflation rate for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which is 2.3%.".

He also argued that his government "made great efforts to protect the population from inflation," reminding that they sent one-time financial aid and reduced taxes and improved the tax credit for seniors.

Divergent reactions among workers and employers
"The Collective for a Quebec Without Poverty" (Collectif pour un Québec sans pauvreté) is "absolutely" dissatisfied with this increase. "It is almost an insult," said the collective's spokesperson, Virginie Larivière, in a press interview.

"In the current context, where we witness a significant increase in the number of people with work income who still have to go to food banks" to obtain food, it is clear that increasing the minimum wage to $15.75 per hour is insufficient, according to Larivière.

Larivière did not hide her anger that this 50 cent increase comes while the economy suffers from a labor shortage, especially in low-wage sectors, to the extent that Quebec authorities were forced to establish regulatory frameworks for child labor.

The Quebec Federation of Labour (FTQ), the largest trade union center in the province, viewed the 50 cent per hour increase as a sign of "complete detachment from reality." "The government is mocking poor people," said the union's secretary general, Denis Bolduc.

For his part, François Vincent, vice president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB / FCEI), expressed his "satisfaction" with this "moderate increase" in the minimum wage. The federation is the largest group of small and medium-sized enterprises in Canada.

"It seems to be a reasonable increase in the (current) context," but nevertheless, it will increase costs for small and medium-sized enterprises, Vincent said in a press interview.

Vincent added that small and medium-sized enterprises want "wage minimum increases to be accompanied by tax burden reductions, or reductions in payroll taxes, or a tax credit that could be available to assist them.