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Minimum wage is the lowest allowable wage in each Canadian province or territory. Learn more, including whom it applies to, in the MoneySense Glossary.
This is the minimum amount that employers must pay employees for work done in a given period, typically per hour. In Canada, minimum wage varies by province or territory. The “general minimum wage” applies to most workers, and some provinces have lower minimum wages for students and/or liquor servers and tipped workers. On April 1, 2024, the following provinces had increases in minimum wage (shown below): Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Yukon, as well as federally regulated sectors across the country.
| Canadian province or territory | Minimum wage |
| Alberta | $15.00 |
| British Columbia | $17.40 |
| Manitoba | $15.30 |
| New Brunswick | $15.30 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $15.60 |
| Northwest Territories | $16.70 |
| Nova Scotia | $15.20 |
| Nunavut | $19.00 |
| Ontario | $17.20 |
| Prince Edward Island | $16.00 |
| Quebec | $15.75 |
| Saskatchewan | $15.00 |
| Yukon | $17.59 |
| Federal | $17.30 |
The federal minimum wage, which applies to federally regulated private sectors (such as airlines, banks, telecommunications and railways) was enacted at the end of 2021, and it is automatically adjusted for inflation every April 1. As of April 1, 2024, the federal minimum wage is $17.30 per hour.
Example: “After calculating how many hours she’d spent on the project, Sophie realized she was making less than minimum wage.”
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