Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
States across the country are scrambling to close their government offices Friday after U.S. President Joe Biden signed legislation establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday.
While June 19 -- which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States -- falls on a Saturday this year, governors across the country announced in quick succession a range of plans for their state offices Friday, the closest workday to the new holiday.
Many states like Maryland, Nebraska, Missouri, West Virginia and Alabama will give most public employees the day off, but government workers in other states, like California, will have to wait to feel the effect of the new law.
"It is encouraging to see bipartisan efforts to recognize the importance of Juneteenth," a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said in a statement. "The Governor issues a proclamation each year to celebrate this important day. At the state level, establishing a holiday usually requires legislation and collective bargaining."
Similarly, in Washington, DC, "many District employees will continue serving to maintain essential District operations," according to a news release from Mayor Muriel Bowser's office. This includes walk-up vaccination sites, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Parks and Recreation. And while the District's schools will be closed, high school graduation ceremonies will commence.
The patchwork of responses underscores the rarity of a new federal holiday. Juneteenth is the first one to be established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983 and becomes at least the eleventh federal holiday recognized by the U.S. federal government.
On the federal level, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced in a memo that most federal employees would have Friday off.
"Agencies should direct such employees to not report to work on Friday -- unless the agency determines that their services are required. If employees are required to work during qualifying holiday hours, they will earn holiday premium pay," the memo said.
A meeting of vaccine advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was scheduled for Friday was also rescheduled because of the Juneteenth holiday.
While private businesses aren't bound by federal holidays like government agencies, many major corporations are celebrating Juneteenth in a similar way.
U.S. corporate employees at Apple will have Friday off, as will employees of Lyft and Peloton. Other companies, like Google, struck a middle ground, eliminating meetings on Friday in honor of the holiday. The New York Stock Exchange will also be open Friday.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger announced the end of slavery in Galveston, Texas, in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.
The legislation, which was passed by the House on Wednesday, gained momentum following Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd last year. It passed the Senate on Tuesday after Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, who blocked the legislation in 2020, dropped his objection.
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.