Ontario’s minimum wage workers will get a 40-cent raise next month, but economists and advocates say the increase still falls far short of what’s needed to make ends meet in the province’s high-cost economy.
Effective October 1, the minimum wage will rise from $17.20 to $17.60 an hour — the second-highest provincial rate in Canada, just behind British Columbia’s $17.85. For a full-time worker logging 40 hours per week, the raise amounts to about $835 more per year before tax.
While the provincial government ties the annual increase to the Ontario Consumer Price Index (CPI), critics argue the CPI doesn’t fully capture real-life expenses. “They’re using one statistical tool to inform what is largely a political decision,” said Craig Pickthorne, communications director at the Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN). “What they’re not considering is all the real costs that people have to deal with, including shelter costs.”
OLWN’s latest calculations pegged the living wage for the GTA at $26 an hour in 2024 — nearly $9 higher than the new minimum wage — with updated figures coming in November.
Viet Vu, manager of economic research at Toronto Metropolitan University’s policy think tank The Dais, warned that the small increase is unlikely to significantly ease financial pressure on low-wage workers. “You’re only talking about 40 cents per hour, which you will have to pay tax on parts of. It is going to be a nice reprieve [but] it’s nowhere near enough,” he said, citing 2023’s high inflation and stagnant pandemic-era wage growth as factors keeping Ontario’s minimum wage behind.
Advocates note that minimum-wage jobs are disproportionately held by women, newcomers, and racialized workers — not just teenagers. Pickthorne argues that paying a living wage benefits employers as well, reducing turnover and training costs while improving productivity.
For now, Ontario’s minimum wage hike will offer modest relief, but experts say a faster “catch-up” may be needed to close the growing gap between statutory wages and the actual cost of living.