Every May for the last several years, the B.C. government has announced that the minimum wage will be going up again, to match the rate of inflation.
This is followed by business lobby groups decrying the constant increases, and saying it's making it harder for them to make payroll and keep their businesses open.
That may well be true, but it obscures the fact that the minimum wage 鈥� $17.85 as of June 1, up from $17.40 鈥� is still far from a princely sum. Working eight hours a day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year, will get you $37,128 鈥� and that's before CPP is taken off.
Here's a few other related numbers:
鈥� Approximately 130,000 people in B.C. earned minimum wage or less as of 2024
鈥� 1.1 million Canadians, 5.6 per cent of the working population, had more than one job in 2023, up from just over two per cent in 1976
鈥� Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in 91原创 is over $2,000 per month 鈥� which would consume two thirds of the total salary of someone working minimum wage full time
鈥� As of last year, 23.1 per cent of all people using food banks in B.C. were working full time
Yes, the minimum wage has gone up sharply since 2019, when it was $13.85 an hour. It's gone up so fast because inflation has shot up over that same time frame. Remember, too, that it was stagnant for years. The B.C. Liberal government kept the wage at a miserly $8 in B.C. from 2001 to 2011, when it finally went up to $9.50.
The minimum wage is not just for kids earning spending money at summer jobs 鈥� and even if it was, that's no excuse to keep it artificially low. Everything teenagers need money for 鈥� including saving for university tuition 鈥� has also increased in price sharply over the past few years.
In our province, everyone deserves a fair shake. That means employers deserve to have a level playing field and as much certainty as governments can provide in this uncertain world.
And workers deserve the same consideration, especially the lowest-wage workers in B.C., who keep our stores and warehouses and restaurants running smoothly day after day.
