BC has increased the hourly minimum wage to $14.60, effective today. Minimum wage rates for liquor servers, resident caretakers and live-in camp leaders are also increasing today.
Here are the changes:
General minimum wage increases 5.4% to $14.60 per hour, an increase of $0.75 per hour.
Liquor server minimum wage increases 9.8% to $13.95 per hour, an increase of $1.25 per hour.
Resident caretaker minimum wage, per month, increases 5.4% to $876.35 for those who manage nine to 60 units (an increase of $35.12/unit), or $2,985.04 for 61 or more units.
Live-in camp leader minimum wage, per day, increases 5.4% to $116.86.
These increases for low-wage workers are the third of four planned increases scheduled to take place on June 1 of each year since 2018.
The increases are the result of recommendations from the independent Fair Wages Commission established in 2017 to advise government on an approach to raising provincial minimum wages.
In 2019, 147,600 people in B.C. were paid minimum wage, or 7% of all paid employees, according to BC Government date.
Of that number:
47% were over 24;
41% work full time;
60% identified as female;
42% had a high school diploma or university degree;
44% worked in firms with more than 500 employees;
29% worked in firms with fewer than 20 employees; and
93% worked in the service producing sector, including retail trade and accommodation and food services.
