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Ontario plans the following minimum wage increases

Minimum wage rate

Rates from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017

Rates as of October 1, 2017

General minimum wage

$11.40 per hour

$11.60 per hour

Student minimum wage

$10.70 per hour

$10.90 per hour

Liquor servers minimum wage

$9.90 per hour

$10.10 per hour

Hunting and fishing guides minimum wage

$56.95
Rate for working less than five consecutive hours in a day

$113.95
Rate for working five or more hours in a day whether or not the hours are consecutive

$58.00
Rate for working less than five consecutive hours in a day

$116.00
Rate for working five or more hours in a day whether or not the hours are consecutive

Homeworkers wage

$12.55 per hour

$12.80 per hour

These increases constitute a 20% jump in January 2018 and a total 30% increase, from present, by January 2019.  Ontario will have the highest general minimum wage rates in North America, outside of specific U.S. cities.  

Aside from the direct cost implications to employers (raising salaries), the need for appropriate salary differentials will inevitably mean rises in the wages paid to persons already earning more than minimum wage. Labour-intensive industries will feel the impact most dramatically; where those impacts force reductions in staffing, those decisions will mean additional redundancy costs.  

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