Minimum wage in B.C. is increasing to $17.85 per hour

British Columbia's Ministry of Labour is reminding people that the minimum wage is increasing to $17.85 an hour starting Sunday. 

That marks a 2.6 per cent jump from the previous minimum rate of $17.40.

Resident caretakers, live-in home-support workers, live-in camp leaders and app-based delivery and ride-hail services workers are included in the 2.6 per cent increase. 

The minimum agricultural piece rates for hand harvesters will increase by 2.6 per cent on Dec. 31. The province says the timing of the increase is different to ensure that crop producers won't need to adjust wages during the harvesting season.

This year's pay jump marks the fourth time the government has tied annual minimum-wage increases to inflation.

"Minimum wage earners are vulnerable to jumps in the price of groceries, rent and gas," said Minister of Labour Jennifer Whiteside in a February statement. "That's why we took action last year to ensure the minimum wage keeps up with the cost of living so workers don't fall further behind."

In February 2024, the Employment Standards Act in B.C. was amended by the government to automatically increase minimum rates annually.

The province cited Statistics Canada data saying there were about 130,000 workers in B.C. who earned minimum wage or less in 2024.

Anastasia French of Living Wage B.C. — an organization that advocates for employers to pay a living wage, and for the government to support living wage policies — says that while annual increases to the minimum wage are a good thing, there is still too large a gap between the minimum wage and a living wage, which is defined by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives as the hourly rate that each of two parents working full-time needs to make in order to support a family of four in their community.

"Unfortunately the costs of everyday essentials like food and rent keep rising at a much higher rate than general inflation," French said.

"So while a 45-cent pay increase is definitely good for those workers, it's actually far short from what they need in order to get by."

According to Living Wage B.C., the 2024 living wage in Metro Vancouver is $27.05, more than $9 higher than the updated minimum wage. French says the living wage in B.C. is highest in the country because of the housing crisis. 

She says a third of workers in B.C. do not earn a living wage, and those workers are more likely to be female and racialized. 

"In Metro Vancouver half of all racialized women don't earn a living wage," French said. 

"We really need the government to take action on the housing crisis, on food affordability, on better transit, on rolling out $10-a-day child care, all of these things will make substantial differences to everyday people."