Ontario Minimum Wage Up On Thursday

Posted January 31, 2007 12:00 pm.

This article is more than 5 years old.

They want $2.

They’re only offering 25 cents.

It seems like a minor difference, but when it comes to the minimum wage, it actually represents a small fortune.

The province officially raises the lowest amount an employer can pay out to its workers on Thursday, rising to $8 an hour – an increase of just 25 cents.

Advocates are clamoring for the rate to be hiked to at least $10, arguing the new amount won’t allow impoverished workers to make a decent living.

A noisy bunch gathered Wednesday afternoon to demand the government boost the new rate even higher.

Most who are forced to work for what they term a pittance are struggling to survive. And their poverty barely allows them to have what most people would consider a normal life.

“We don’t go for any cinema, or vacations, we don’t have time to go and we don’t have money to spend,” complains Vijaya Baithilangam, who works two jobs for the same salary.

Some are saying eight bucks an hour is better than the old rate, but a look through the numbers show the protestors may be right. Back in 1972, the minimum wage was a paltry $2 an hour.

But using the Bank of Canada’s own inflation calculator – which factors in the cost of living and the rising price of goods – that would be equivalent to $9.75 in today’s dollars – almost two bucks less than what’s being offered the lowest paid workers.

That means minimum wage earners were better off then than they are now.

But Labour Minister Steve Peters insists anything over a quarter simply isn’t reasonable and would drive small firms out of business.

He maintains dissenters will just have to make due with the new amount for a while and that the payout has risen dramatically under the Liberal reign.

“The minimum wage has been phased in over a four-year period, from $6.85 an hour to $8 an hour,” he points out. “This is an increase of 17 percent in the minimum wage for Ontario workers.”

There are no plans to increase it any more in the future, a fact that has the NDP up in arms.

“It’s better than not going up by 25 cents but it still doesn’t address the real issue: the minimum wage in Ontario is not a living wage,” accuses leader Howard Hampton.

“You cannot pay the rent, you cannot put food on the table, and you cannot look after your family working for minimum wage. We need at least a $10 an hour minimum wage for people to be able to do that – to put food on the table, pay the rent and look after themselves.”

He also incensed because MPPs just voted themselves a $25,000 pay hike – and ignored the howls of protest that followed.

Peters’ response? Ontario’s minimum wage is already among the highest in Canada and there’s no room to move.

Baithilangam vows her people won’t let up until things change.

“We are mobilizing ourselves ’til our voices are heard,” one protestor shouts. “It’s very important we all join in our fight.”

Despite Peters insistence that the ceiling has been reached for now, there is an election around the corner in October. And there are already hints that the Liberals may be willing to revisit the issue before then.

Ontario’s $8 platform brings us in line with Manitoba, Quebec, and B.C. But that doesn’t mean our workers are the highest paid in the country.

Because they have so much trouble attracting people to move so far north, the Northwest Territories trumps our rates. Workers there pull in $8.25 an hour.

The highest in all of Canada? Nunavut at $8.50.

What do people in other provinces earn? Here’s a look at what employees at the lowest end of the wage scale make per hour across Canada.

B.C. $8

Alberta: $7

Saskatchewan: $7.55, increasing to $7.95 as of March 1st

Manitoba: $7.60, increasing to $8 on April 1st

Ontario: $8 as of Thursday

Quebec: $7.75, increasing to $8 as of May 1st

New Brunswick: $7, increasing to $7.25 as of July 1st

Nova Scotia: $7.15

Prince Edward Island: $7.15, increasing to $7.50 as of April 1st.

Newfoundland & Labrador: $7