B.C.’s minimum wage to increase to $18.25

B.C. is set to raise its minimum wage by 2.24 per cent this summer, attempting to keep pace with inflation.

The province says the general minimum wage will increase from $17.85 to $18.25 per hour on June 1.

Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside says minimum wage earners are feeling the pressure of inflation and rising costs.

“That’s why we acted to bring in annual minimum-wage increases, which have helped paycheques keep up with increasing costs of essentials like food and transportation. This matters for everyone, and especially for minimum-wage workers, the people doing the jobs so many of us rely on every day,” said Whiteside.

Minimum wage rates for residential caretakers, live-in home-support workers, camp leaders, and app-based ride-hailing and delivery services workers will reportedly increase by the same rate in June. At the very end of the year, the minimum piece rates for 15 hand-harvested crops will also increase by the same percentage, ensuring farmers will not have to adjust wages in the middle of the harvesting season.

The province has increased its minimum wage every June 1 since 2018, when it first reached $12.65 per hour. B.C. currently offers the highest provincial minimum wage, with Ontario 25 cents behind. Nunavut and Yukon lead with $19.75 and $17.94, respectively.

After being the first province to implement a $15 minimum wage, Alberta lags behind the rest with no increase since 2018.

Last year, the organization Living Wage BC calculated the 2025 minimum would fall $9.20 per hour short of what someone needs to live with dignity in Metro Vancouver. Assuming the 2025 living wage calculation, B.C.’s 2026 minimum wage would still fall $8.80 short.

Living Wage BC has warned that tying annual increases to the rate of general inflation fails to account for other factors of the affordability crisis in Canada.