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

Santana Dreaver · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 01, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 1

British Columbia's Ministry of Labour is reminding radical that the minimum wage is expanding to $17.85 an hr starting Sunday. 

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

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

The minimum cultivation portion rates for manus harvesters volition summation by 2.6 per cent connected Dec. 31. The state says the timing of the increase is antithetic to guarantee that harvest producers won't request to set wages during the harvesting season.

This year's wage leap marks the 4th clip the authorities has tied annual minimum-wage increases to inflation.

"Minimum wage earners are susceptible to jumps successful the terms of groceries, rent and gas," said Minister of Labour Jennifer Whiteside successful a February statement. "That's wherefore we took enactment past twelvemonth to guarantee the minimum wage keeps up with the outgo of surviving truthful workers don't autumn further behind."

In February 2024, the Employment Standards Act successful B.C. was amended by the authorities to automatically summation minimum rates annually.

The state cited Statistics Canada information saying determination were astir 130,000 workers successful B.C. who earned minimum wage oregon little successful 2024.

Anastasia French of Living Wage B.C. — an enactment that advocates for employers to wage a surviving wage, and for the authorities to enactment surviving wage policies — says that portion yearly increases to the minimum wage are a bully thing, determination is inactive excessively ample a gap betwixt the minimum wage and a surviving wage, which is defined by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives as the hourly complaint that each of 2 parents moving full-time needs to marque successful bid to enactment a household of 4 successful their community.

"Unfortunately the costs of mundane essentials similar nutrient and rent support rising astatine a overmuch higher complaint than wide inflation," French said.

"So portion a 45-cent wage summation is decidedly bully for those workers, it's really acold abbreviated from what they request successful bid to get by."

According to Living Wage B.C., the 2024 surviving wage successful Metro Vancouver is $27.05, much than $9 higher than the updated minimum wage. French says the surviving wage successful B.C. is highest successful the state due to the fact that of the lodging crisis. 

She says a 3rd of workers successful B.C. bash not gain a surviving wage, and those workers are much apt to beryllium pistillate and racialized. 

"In Metro Vancouver fractional of each racialized women don't gain a surviving wage," French said. 

"We truly request the authorities to instrumentality enactment connected the lodging crisis, connected nutrient affordability, connected amended transit, connected rolling retired $10-a-day kid care, each of these things volition marque important differences to mundane people."