Minimum wage increases with inflation for the 3rd consecutive year

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British Columbians are anticipating a 3.9 per cent minimum wage increase from $16.75 to $17.40 per hour on June 1. 

Annual minimum wage increases indexed to provincial inflation began in 2022, and have increased each year since. 

“B.C. has gone from having one of the lowest minimum wages in the country to the highest of all the provinces. We made a commitment to tie minimum-wage increases to the rate of inflation to prevent B.C.’s lowest-paid workers from falling behind,” said Minister of Labour Harry Bains in a BC Government news release. 

Sakshi, who does not use a last name, is a Kwantlen Polytechnic University student who makes minimum wage and supports herself while living alone. She lives within a tight budget, but is managing savvy shopping and making the most out of every dollar.

That said, she feels more can be done to close the living wage gap in Metro Vancouver, which currently sits at $25.68. 

“One dollar is not enough for everyone … because inflation is too much, so $1 is nothing,” Sakshi says. “It must be $21, $25, [or] in between these. … After paying all the bills we are left with nothing.”

Offering a living wage for lowest-paid earners has been a hard policy to sell as minimum wage increases are tied to inflation. 

“When we do implement increasing the minimum wage, that means we are implementing a higher cost to the production,” says KPU economics instructor Hamideh Shokoohian.

“Now what happens is that this extra cost of production could pass through higher prices to the consumer.” 

In 2022, the BC Fair Wages Commission (FWC) reported people between the ages of 20 and 24 represented 20.2 per cent of those earning the minimum wage or less.

Unemployment is also hitting student minimum-wage job seekers. Statistics Canada reported the unemployment rate for students increased 2.1 per cent to 11.5 per cent in February, nearly double the national unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent.

“That’s consistent with the economic forces because … when the minimum wage is higher, then they employ less of [the] lowest skilled workers,” Shokoohian says.

The increase will add approximately $100 per month for full-time minimum wage earners, Shokoohian says, and has the potential to result in about 28,000 to 56,000 job losses. However, this can be mitigated. 

The provincial government believes a steady annual increase is something that can be reliably planned for by both employers and employees to avoid excessive job loss resulting from minimum wage increases.

“The general understanding about inflation is that inflation is bad,” Shokoohian says. “But the truth is that inflation is only bad when it is unexpected. If inflation is expected, then we all actually have the time [and] we can accommodate that in our decision making process.” 

First-year KPU biology student Yohani Weheragama is job-seeking for minimum wage employment to help support her mother and grandmother who are unable to work.

“As a student, it’s a bit hard to get a job, especially in Metro Vancouver. So currently, the options I’m looking at are minimum wage, because [I] don’t have experience,” Weheragama says. “We are currently living on a very short and small amount, barely scraping by.”

Weheragama is hopeful the minimum wage increase will mean better outcomes for her family when she is able to find a job. 

“Whatever we are earning is not enough to meet the basic needs in this society. So I feel like the increase of the minimum wage … is a good thing,” Weheragama says. 

“One dollar an hour extra doesn’t seem like a lot, but … over the month, it adds up,” she says. “I think it definitely does ease the burden a bit and make it a bit more livable, especially in B.C.”