The minimum wage goes to $15.25 an hour today, a jump of $1 which will affect almost half as many Quebecers as 5 years ago.
• Read also: 205,400 workers still at the minimum wage in Quebec
• Read also: Minimum wage employees, an endangered species
In fact, the number of workers in this situation in Quebec has increased from 265,100 in 2018 to 161,900 in 2022, according to Statistics Canada.
“The market is forcing us to offer a higher salary,” admits Dominique Bélanger, owner of a Rona hardware store in Montreal.
Photo Julien McEvoy
Dominique Belanger
If many employees were hired at minimum wage just over two years ago, this is no longer the case today.
“The only ones who are paid minimum wage are at reception. They have no experience and this is their first job. The less that there is recognized experience, they will earn more,” says the man who has had time to see things change after 30 years in the same place.
The vast majority of minimum-wage jobs are in retail as well as restaurants and hotels.
Here too, minimum wage employees are now rare, according to Annie Robitaille, owner of Jaro Hotels, except among members of the younger generation entering the labor market.
“Among young people, the minimum wage is widespread, but for other positions, there is a lot of one-upmanship,” she observes.
Employment statistics tell the same story as the two entrepreneurs.
In Quebec, young people aged 15 to 24 account for 59% of those who earn the minimum. They also work part-time in 85% of cases.
“A plausible explanation for this finding would be that a good number of them are still studying,” write Luc Godbout, holder of the research chair in taxation and public finance at the University of Sherbrooke, and his colleague, Suzie St-Cerny, in their annual study on the minimum wage.
The vast majority of those aged 25 and over who work for minimum wage do so full time.
Women are also more likely than men to earn the minimum in a proportion of 53%.
From pay to pay
The two researchers come to the conclusion that the increase of $1 per hour “should improve the financial situation of Quebec households who work at this hourly rate”.
Still, times are tough for those who are struggling to make ends meet, says Vincent Chevarie, head of political affairs at the advocacy organization for non-unionized people Au bas de l’escalade.
“These are people who live from pay to pay and who do not necessarily have the luxury of paying for leisure, such as plane tickets, theater,” he pleads.
Because a good part of the income of those who earn the minimum wage is spent on housing.
“With inflation, food is extremely difficult. It creates inequality,” argues Mr. Chevarie.
The minimum wage in Quebec
- 2018: $12.00
- 2019: $12.50
- 2020: $13.10
- 2021: $13.50
- 2022: $14.25
- 2023: $15.25
Number of Quebecers earning minimum wage
- 2018: 265,100
- 2019: 256,800
- 2020: 207,000
- 2021: 200 100
- 2022: 161,900
Source: Statistics Canada, Labor Force Survey, 2022adapted by the Statistical Institute of Quebec
Quebec and the others
- Ontario: $16.55
- Credit card: $16.75
- Quebec: $15.25
- Alberta: $15.00
- New Brunswick: $14.75