Learn about the latest changes in British Columbia’s minimum wage provisions, which are intended to combat 2022’s inflationary pressures
The Canadian province of British Columbia increased its minimum wage by over a dollar on June 1, 2023. The new pay rate of $16.75 an hour resulted in a raise of 6% for workers. BC’s minimum wage is one of the highest among the provinces, trailing only behind Yukon (which has an hourly pay of $16.77 as of April 1, 2023, leading by just 2 cents).
The changes have been put into effect by the provincial New Democratic Party (NDP) government, as a measure to buffer low-wage workers from last year’s inflationary pressures. Indexed to the inflation rate of 6.9 percent in 2022 – and adjusted annually based on last year’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) – these workers are prevented from “falling behind”, as per BC Minister of Labor Harry Bains. This reflects the government’s policy of “tying the minimum wage to inflation.”
The measure highlighted above is supposed to affect 150,000 people working minimum wage jobs, 58 percent of whom are women. They are typically involved in occupations such as food service, grocery store work, and retail work – all essential occupations, as was demonstrated through the COVID pandemic. Not only does the wage increase guarantee certainty for these individual workers, but also gives businesses a predictable outlook for the future.
It is also set to impact the labor market shortage, which – like in other Canadian provinces – has been a major point of administrative concern. The Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation Brenda Bailey ties a higher minimum wage to the possibility of increasing British Columbia’s attractiveness as a place to live. This would both draw in more workers, and retain the labor that is already residing in the province.
Private liquor store employee Marissa Iacobucci vouched for this change, giving testimony of having worked minimum wage for many years herself. “The past five years made a big difference to me and my community,” she said. “I guarantee this increase will make a huge difference for them.”
Except for Alberta and Nunavut, most Canadian jurisdictions have proposed the idea of increasing minimum wage this year. Of those, at least 8 also base the increases on the annual CPI changes, reflecting an interest towards keeping inflationary trends in mind.
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