Starting June 1st, BC’s lowest paid workers will see the minimum wage rise to $18.25 an hour, a 40-cent increase from 12 months earlier.
Local business owner and Downtown PG President, Eoin Foley (Owen) understands the move by the province stating it has become harder to afford food and rent for some employees – adding the incremental rises are now part of the evolving business climate.
“On the flip side, as a business owner, it is a real balancing act considering that the money to pay for those wage increases has to come from somewhere. Every year we have to plan for this and re-evaluate our costs and think about whether we have to increase prices.”
Foley mentioned having gone nearly a decade (2002-2010) with no minimum wage increase didn’t do any favours for workers or businesses.
“Ten years ago we needed to see it rise and that was fair for the lowest paid workers. I think this is a nice component that is predictable now (from the province) and it is a little easier with business operations instead of longer periods of no increases and others with larger spikes is actually harder to do and operate like that.”
“We want our staff and employees to be able to not struggle with paying rent or buying food and that is the really important thing. They kind of need that security to battle inflation.”
The wage increase also applies to specialized minimum wages, such as the rates for resident caretakers, live-in home-support workers and camp leaders as well as piece-rate agricultural employees.
In addition, the minimum wage for app-based ride-hailing and delivery service workers is $21.89 per hour of engaged time.
In 2024, minimum-wage increases were protected in law, with the amount automatically tied to the previous year’s inflation.
There were no minimum-wage increases in B.C. for nine consecutive years between 2002 and 2010, or in 2013 or 2014.
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