Quebecers should keep an eye on their next few pay stubs as the minimum wage is going up from $15.75 to $16.10 as of Thursday. In January, Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet said the 2.22 per cent increase would boost the disposable income of minimum wage workers by $484 per year. He said some 217,400 employees would benefit, mainly in the retail and catering sectors. Boulet added minimum wage increases since 2019 have been “significantly higher” than inflation. But Serge Petitclerc of the Collectif pour un Québec sans pauvreté pointed out this is Quebec’s lowest increase in years. Since 2019, the minimum wage rose 34.2 per cent, from $12 to $16.10. The highest increase was of 7.02 per cent in 2023 and the lowest, until now, was of 3.05 in 2021. Inflation was around 25 per cent for the same period. Minimum wage for tipped employees will go up by 30 cents to $12.90 per hour. In neighbouring Ontario, the minimum wage is currently $17.20 an hour and will go up to $17.60 in October, while the Canadian government raised the federal minimum wage to $17.75 in April. Recent data from the Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomiques (IRIS) showed it would take an average wage of $28 per hour for a Quebecer to get out of poverty with a full-time job. It also said high rents are a big financial hurdle, with rent hikes hitting an all-time high this year. “I don’t understand why the government didn’t increase the minimum wage by at least 75 cents or $1,” said Petitclerc. “I understand there’s a balance to maintain but it seems we never respect the balanced budget of workers.” Paul Goodship, the co-owner of pet shop Boutique Pawse in Pointe-Saint-Charles, said he’s been paying his employees more than minimum wage since opening 11 years ago. “It’s in our best interest to invest in our community and give our employees what we can manage to make them comfortable,” he said. Overtime, the gap between how much he pays and the minimum has gotten smaller. After today’s increase, employees here get about 3 to 4 dollars more per hour. Jeremie Courtemanche, who owns grocery store L’Avant nearby, said he feels the same as Goodship. Because his employees have to develop a certain expertise on products they sell, he said it’s worth paying a little more. “Minimum wage nowadays doesn’t get you very far,” he said. François Vincent, Quebec vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), said more small businesses would like to increase their salaries but are held back by Quebec’s high taxes. “I think it’s normal that the provincial government increases the minimum wage ... We think that they should do more for small businesses because Quebec is the kingdom of taxes for small businesses,” he said. On average, the new minimum wage will represent a $838 increase in spending for small businesses based on a 40-hour workweek, including payroll taxes. With files from CTV News Montreal’s Olivia O’Malley
