Wednesday, July 1, 2026
ADVT 
National

B.C. minimum wage increases by 45 cents per hour starting June 1

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 14 Feb, 2025 12:43 PM
  • B.C. minimum wage increases by 45 cents per hour starting June 1

The British Columbia government says the province's lowest-paid workers are getting a wage boost to keep pace with inflation.

The Ministry of Labour says the minimum wage will increase from $17.40 to $17.85 per hour starting in June.

It says the 2.6 per cent increase follows changes made last spring to the Employment Standards Act, which mandated yearly wage rises.

Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside says those adjustments were made last year because minimum-wage workers are most vulnerable to jumps in prices for living expenses like groceries, rent and gas.

The province says the changes align with government priorities to help lift more people out of poverty, make life more affordable, and build a strong and fair economy for B.C.

It says minimum wage rates increase on June 1 each year, except for the minimum agricultural piece rates that increase on Dec. 31 to ensure crop producers will not have to adjust wages in the middle of the harvesting season.

MORE National ARTICLES

Japanese Canadian paper, pillar for community during war, saved from digital oblivion

Japanese Canadian paper, pillar for community during war, saved from digital oblivion
More than eighty years ago, Japanese Canadians came together to sustain The New Canadian, the only newspaper specifically for the community that was allowed to be published through the Second World War. Now the community has come together again — and may have saved the newspaper's archives from the digital scrap heap.

Japanese Canadian paper, pillar for community during war, saved from digital oblivion

SUV allegedly rams into police car

SUV allegedly rams into police car
Surrey Mounties say they got a call about a suspicious vehicle around 146 Street and 108 Avenue, and the driver of a Ford S-U-V allegedly hit a police vehicle as it fled from officers.  Surrey R-C-M-P says the S-U-V also hit another vehicle that was stopped and later drove into oncoming traffic as police were in pursuit. 

SUV allegedly rams into police car

One-third of Canadians report being personally impacted by severe weather: poll

One-third of Canadians report being personally impacted by severe weather: poll
A new poll suggests more Canadians are feeling the direct impacts of extreme weather, but that has not changed overall opinions about climate change. The results from a recent Leger poll suggest more than one in three Canadians have been touched directly by extreme weather such as forest fires, heat waves, floods or tornadoes. 

One-third of Canadians report being personally impacted by severe weather: poll

Former U.S. ambassador to Canada gives 'tsunami warning' about Trump

Former U.S. ambassador to Canada gives 'tsunami warning' about Trump
A former United States ambassador to Canada is sounding the alarm that a second Donald Trump presidency would cause chaos for Canadians as he urged Americans abroad that their votes could prove crucial in the presidential election. Bruce Heyman, who served as ambassador from 2014 to 2017, gave Canada a “tsunami warning,” saying if Trump takes the White House, Canada is at great risk.  

Former U.S. ambassador to Canada gives 'tsunami warning' about Trump

B.C. commuters left without West Coast Express as railways lock out workers

B.C. commuters left without West Coast Express as railways lock out workers
Rail commuters in British Columbia's Lower Mainland must find alternative transportation after Canada's two major railways locked out workers in their first-ever simultaneous stoppage. A bulletin from TransLink, Metro Vancouver's transportation network, says service on the West Coast Express is suspended due to the stoppage, which follows a break down in talks with the union.

B.C. commuters left without West Coast Express as railways lock out workers

1M dollar investor theft in North Vancouver

1M dollar investor theft in North Vancouver
A North Vancouver man has been sentenced to three years in prison after stealing close to one-million dollars U-S from investors. The B-C Securities Commission says Ward Derek Jensen was sentenced in provincial court after pleading guilty to theft over five-thousand dollars.

1M dollar investor theft in North Vancouver