B.C. won't raise minimum wage: Coell
Province will not follow Ontario lead
Canwest News Service
April 1, 2010 

VICTORIA — B.C. has no plans to follow Ontario and raise its minimum wage, says the province's labour minister.

"We're not looking at increasing the minimum wage, we're looking at creating good-paying jobs through tax reduction and benefits to people who are earning less than $18,000 a year," Murray Coell said Wednesday.

"We've taken a different tack than some of the other provinces, but it's proven to be quite successful."

B.C.'s minimum wage has been frozen at $8 an hour for the past eight years, the lowest level in Canada.

Ontario increased its minimum wage 75 cents to $10.25 yesterday. The increase adds up to an extra $6 per day, $30 a week, and about $120 a month for those who make minimum wage and work a 40-hour week. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, and Ontario's restaurant industry, opposed the wage hike, saying it would add millions in extra costs for employers.

B.C.'s minimum wage should be immediately increased to at least $10 an hour, said Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour.

Coell disagreed. "The after-tax dollars for someone at minimum wage in this province is quite good compared to some of the other provinces that have a higher minimum wage," he said. Those with jobs in B.C. earn, on average, $22 an hour, he said, while youth earn an average of $13.

Minimum Wage by Province

• Alberta $8.80
• British Columbia $8.00
• Manitoba $9.00
• New Brunswick $8.50
• Northwest Territories $9.00
• Newfoundland $9.50
• Nova Scotia $9.20
• Nunavut $10.00
• Ontario $10.25
• Prince Edward Island $8.40
• Quebec $9.00
• Saskatchewan $9.25
• Yukon $8.93