BC's Minimum Wage To Increase to $17.40 on June 1; Up 70% Over Last 10 Years
BC's Minimum Wage To Increase to $17.40 on June 1; Up 70% Over Last 10 Years
Attention Employers -- BC's minimum wage will increase from $16.75 to $17.40 per hour on June 1, 2024.
This represents a 3.9% increase, consistent with B.C.’s average rate of inflation in 2023. New legislation from the Province means future increases to the minimum wage will be automatically determined by the previous year’s average inflation rate for B.C. With this new legislation, employers should plan for consistent annual increases to the minimum wage tied to CPI. In a scenario with negative inflation, no increase would occur. This is what the government had been doing anyways regarding annual increases, but this new legislation puts practice into law.
Most wage rates will increase on June 1 of each year, except for agricultural piece rates that will increase on Dec. 31 of each year to ensure crop producers will not have to adjust wages in the middle of the harvesting season.
"Having early warning of minimum wage increases is helpful, and using a metric like CPI provides some stability to minimum wage rates for sure. That said, BC's minimum wage has increased by 70% in the last ten years, far outstripping the rate of inflation during that time, and significantly increasing the cost of labour for businesses all along the wage scale, as we know these increases put upward pressure on other wages as well," says Cory Redekop, CEO of the Langley Chamber.