Doug Ford is reportedly set to increase the Ontario minimum wage to $15 per hour starting in January.
BREAKING: Premier Doug Ford will increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour on Jan. 1, the @TorontoStar has learned. It is now $14.35. After it’s at $15, it will rise at the inflation rate every October. #onpoli #onlab https://t.co/gkJqSd6FPO
— Robert Benzie (@robertbenzie) November 1, 2021
Sources told CTV News Toronto that Premier Doug Ford will make the official announcement today (November 2nd). The change will be implemented on January 1st. After that, Ontario minimum wage will reportedly continue to rise by the rate of inflation every October.
Currently, Ontario’s minimum wage is $14.35 per hour. Previously, the last time minimum wage had been increased was in January 2018. At the time, minimum wage went from $11.60 to $14 per hour.
After he was elected in 2018, Doug Ford threw out legislation that would have brought Ontario minimum wage up to $15. Today’s decision looks like to a response from a question from NDP Leader Andrea Horwath yesterday. Horwath grilled Ford about the decision during Question Period.
Doug Ford’s wage freeze in 2018 cost Ontario’s minimum wage earners $6200. Seven months before an election, now that he’s desperate for votes, @fordnation’s finally ending his fight against minimum wage workers. #onpoli https://t.co/HwGKtgDpc8
— Steven Del Duca (@StevenDelDuca) November 2, 2021
Horwath says that Ontario minimum wage workers have missed out on a whopping $5,300 since 2018 as a result of the decision.
“The premier’s buddies never need to worry about putting food on the table or putting a roof over the head of their kids,” Horwath said.
In response, Ford brought up gas prices. He also said that more people in the province have jobs since he was elected.
In May of 2017, Kathleen Wynne had been looking over a report called the Changing Workplaces Review. It brought a few significant changes to the table, including a $15 minimum wage. It also encouraged more annual vacation time and more concrete protection for workers in low paid positions. A few weeks later, she announced plans to raise minimum wage to $15 by 2019.