Canada Minimum Wage by Province 2026: Ontario, BC and Federal

The minimum wage depends on where you work: the federal government’s table lists a general rate for each province and territory, and employees of federally regulated businesses are entitled to at least the federal minimum wage. Ontario’s general minimum wage has been $17.95 an hour since October 1, 2026.

What is the minimum wage in each province and territory?

These are the general minimum wages per hour as of October 2026, from the federal government’s table of current and forthcoming general minimum wage rates. In most jurisdictions the same rates apply to young workers; Ontario and Alberta each have a student rate, set out under students.

What is Ontario’s minimum wage?

Ontario’s general minimum wage is $17.95 an hour from October 1, 2026, up from $17.60, and it applies to most employees. Ontario also sets a student rate, a homeworker rate and a rate for hunting, fishing and wilderness guides:

In Ontario the student minimum wage is for students under 18 who work 28 hours a week or less while school is in session, or who work during a school break or the summer holidays; a student of any age who works as a homeworker gets the homeworker rate. The full conditions are under students.

Ontario’s guide defines homeworkers as “employees who do paid work in their own homes”, for example people who sew clothes, take call-centre calls or write software for a company. Hunting and fishing guides and wilderness guides are paid by blocks of time in a day rather than by the hour.

Ontario’s minimum wages are indexed to inflation once a year. A new rate is published on or before April 1 and takes effect on October 1. If the change falls partway through your pay period, the period is split in two and you are owed at least the rate in force for each part.

What has Ontario’s minimum wage been in recent years?

How are minimum wage increases set, and when are they announced?

Each government sets its own method, and some publish it:

• Ontario: indexed to inflation each year, announced by April 1 and in force on October 1 (see Ontario).
• British Columbia: every year since June 1, 2024, each minimum wage rises by the same percentage as the BC All-Items Consumer Price Index, with the general rate rounded to the nearest 5 cents; if the index falls, the rates stay the same.
• Federal: increases are based on Canada’s Consumer Price Index for the previous calendar year; the last two took effect on April 1, 2025 and April 1, 2026.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: rates change every April 1, following the national Consumer Price Index.
• New Brunswick: adjusted in line with New Brunswick’s Consumer Price Index.
• Northwest Territories: adjusted each September 1 by a formula using the change in Yellowknife’s Consumer Price Index and in the territory’s average hourly wage for the year before.
• Saskatchewan: an indexation formula giving equal weight to the changes in Saskatchewan’s Consumer Price Index and average hourly wage.

The dates for the rest are in the table.

Which minimum wages went up in the last year?

The most recent general minimum wage increase in each jurisdiction that had one in the last 12 months, newest first (a jurisdiction may have had an earlier increase in that window too):

• Manitoba: increased from $16.00 to $16.40 per hour on October 1, 2026. The $16.00 rate had applied from October 1, 2025.
• Nova Scotia: increased from $16.75 to $17.00 per hour on October 1, 2026. The $16.75 rate had applied from April 1, 2026.
• Ontario: increased from $17.60 to $17.95 per hour on October 1, 2026. The $17.60 rate had applied from October 1, 2025.
• Prince Edward Island: increased from $17.00 to $17.30 per hour on October 1, 2026. The $17.00 rate had applied from April 1, 2026.
• Saskatchewan: increased from $15.35 to $15.70 per hour on October 1, 2026. The $15.35 rate had applied from October 1, 2025.
• Northwest Territories: increased from $16.95 to $17.20 per hour on September 1, 2026. The $16.95 rate had applied from September 1, 2025.
• Nunavut: increased from $19.75 to $20.17 per hour on September 1, 2026. The $19.75 rate had applied from September 1, 2025.
• British Columbia: increased from $17.85 to $18.25 per hour on June 1, 2026. The $17.85 rate had applied from June 1, 2025.
• Quebec: increased from $16.10 to $16.60 per hour on May 1, 2026. The $16.10 rate had applied from May 1, 2025.
• Federal (federally regulated employers): increased from $17.75 to $18.15 per hour on April 1, 2026. The $17.75 rate had applied from April 1, 2025.
• New Brunswick: increased from $15.65 to $15.90 per hour on April 1, 2026. The $15.65 rate had applied from April 1, 2025.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: increased from $16.00 to $16.35 per hour on April 1, 2026. The $16.00 rate had applied from April 1, 2025.
• Yukon: increased from $17.94 to $18.51 per hour on April 1, 2026. The $17.94 rate had applied from April 1, 2025.

No increase in the last 12 months: Alberta, $15.00 per hour since October 1, 2018.

What is the federal minimum wage, and who does it cover?

The federal minimum wage is $18.15 an hour from April 1, 2026, up from $17.75. It covers employees of federally regulated businesses, a group that includes sectors such as international and interprovincial transportation, telecommunication and banking. Interns working for a federally regulated employer are entitled to it too.

If the minimum wage of the province or territory where you are employed is higher than the federal rate, the provincial or territorial rate applies to you. The table shows which jurisdictions are above the federal row. Whether your job falls under federal or provincial law is covered in the workplace rights hub and on the government’s federal labour standards page.

Is the minimum wage the same for students?

In most jurisdictions, yes: the federal government’s database notes that the general rates also apply to young workers. Ontario and Alberta each set a lower rate for students.

Ontario’s student minimum wage is $16.90 an hour from October 1, 2026, with these conditions:

• You are a student under the age of 18.
• While school is in session, the student rate applies if you work 28 hours a week or less.
• It also applies when you work during a school break or the summer holidays, such as the Christmas break or March break.
• A student of any age, including one under 18, who works as a homeworker (paid work done in your own home) must be paid the homeworker minimum wage instead.

Alberta’s student minimum wage is $13.00 an hour, in place since June 26, 2019. Alberta’s page says the general rate applies to all employees except students under 18. The conditions below set out when a student can be paid the student rate instead:

• You are a student under 18 attending school up to grade 12, post-secondary or vocational school.
• You are enrolled in an educational institution: the student rate does not apply to youth who are out of school.
• While school is in session, the student rate covers only your first 28 hours of work in a week.
• Any hours past 28 in that week must be paid at least the general minimum wage of $15.00 an hour.
• When school is not in session, such as spring break, Christmas break or the summer vacation, the student rate can apply to all your regular hours.

Manitoba’s factsheet says its minimum wage “applies equally to all employees regardless of age or the number of hours they work”. British Columbia’s page gives one hourly minimum wage that applies to most employees. Quebec’s minimum wage page lists no student rate, and a student employed in a social or community non-profit organization is among the workers its minimum wage rules don’t cover. In a federally regulated job, the minimum wage also applies if you are under 18.

Does minimum wage apply to tips?

Four provinces’ own pages say this about tips:

• Ontario: tips are not wages under the Employment Standards Act and are not counted when working out whether you were paid the minimum wage; you can’t agree to give up the minimum wage in exchange for keeping more of your tips.
• British Columbia: liquor servers get at least the regular minimum wage for their hours, and their tips come on top of it.
• Alberta: tips are not counted as part of your wages.
• Quebec: employees who usually receive tips can be paid a lower minimum, $13.30 an hour since May 1, 2026, but only if they work in a restaurant (other than fast food or pay-before-you-eat), for a business that delivers or serves meals to be eaten elsewhere, in a room serving alcohol consumed on site, or in tourist accommodation, campgrounds included. Their hourly wage must reach that minimum without counting tips.

Who is exempt from minimum wage or paid differently?

In Ontario most employees are covered by the minimum wage, whether full-time, part-time or casual and whether paid by the hour, commission, piece rate, flat rate or salary, and it is checked over each pay period. Commission pay there must come to at least the minimum wage for each hour worked. British Columbia’s rate applies to most employees however they’re paid, and a federally regulated employee not paid by the hour must get at least the equivalent of the minimum wage. In Ontario, room and board can count toward the minimum wage, but only if you received the meals and occupied the room.

Some jobs have their own minimum or are left out:

• British Columbia: live-in camp leaders and live-in home support workers are paid a daily rate, resident caretakers a monthly wage, farm workers can be paid piece rates, and online platform workers get a minimum hourly wage for engaged time.
• Alberta: some salespersons and domestic employees have weekly or monthly minimums, and some occupations, such as real estate brokers and securities salespersons, are exempt.
• Ontario: certain jobs fall outside the minimum wage rules, and commission salespeople in some industries have special rules.
• Quebec: the minimum wage rules don’t apply to certain categories of workers.
• Federal: an employer is exempt for an apprentice registered under and paid according to a provincial apprenticeship act.

App-based delivery and ride-hail work is covered on gig economy worker rights.

What does minimum wage come to in a year or a month?

For other hours and weeks, see how to calculate annual salary from an hourly rate or the hourly-to-salary calculators for Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec. Take-home pay after tax and payroll deductions is explained on what is net income in Canada.

How are overtime and holiday pay worked out at minimum wage?

New Brunswick sets its minimum overtime rate at one and a half times the minimum wage. Each province’s overtime threshold and rate are on overtime pay rules in Canada, and holiday pay, which is worked out from your own wages, is on the stat holiday pay calculator.

What if you’re paid less than minimum wage?

In Ontario the minimum wage is checked over each pay period, so the total for the period has to reach the minimum for the hours you worked. The steps to recover what you are owed are on my employer hasn’t paid me.

Is minimum wage a living wage?

No. The Ontario Living Wage Network describes a living wage as the hourly wage a worker needs to cover basic expenses and take part in their community, worked out from local costs. It is not the minimum wage, which is the legal minimum set by government; employers who pay a living wage choose to. For what Canadians earn, see average salary in Canada.

Related pages

• Overtime pay rules in Canada
• Stat holiday pay calculator
• My employer hasn’t paid me
• Gig economy worker rights
• How to calculate annual salary from an hourly rate
• Average salary in Canada