National

B.C.’s minimum wage increases to $18.25, June 1

Darpan News Desk Darpan, 26 May, 2026 10:57 AM

As of Monday, June 1, 2026, the province's general minimum wage will rise to $18.25 an hour.

Types of wages affected

The increase of just over 2.1% raises the general minimum wage from $17.85 to $18.25 per hour. The same percentage increase applies to the minimum rates for resident caretakers, live-in home-support workers, live-in camp leaders and app-based ride-hailing and delivery service workers.

The minimum agricultural piece-rate wages for the hand harvesting of specified crops will increase by just over 2.1% on Dec. 31, 2026. The Dec. 31 date for the annual increase to the minimum piece rates ensures crop producers will not need to adjust wages in the middle of the harvesting season.

Context for this increase

* The Province is committed to a minimum wage structure that benefits the lowest-paid workers, while providing employers with certainty and predictability.

* Changes were made to the Employment Standards Act in 2024 to ensure annual minimum wage increases occur automatically based on B.C.'s average monthly inflation rate from the previous year.

* Approximately 141,300 employees in B.C. earned the minimum wage or less in 2025.

* These increases have moved B.C. from near the bottom to among the highest minimum wages in Canada.

Learn More:

* For details on this year's minimum wage increase, read the news release: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026LBR0002-000191

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

'Not what they're saying': Carney rejects suggestion U.S. may exit trade pact

Prime Minister Mark Carney is pushing back on the suggestion that the U.S. may be considering pulling out of North America's trilateral free-trade pact.

'Not what they're saying': Carney rejects suggestion U.S. may exit trade pact

Virtual emergency care launching at four hospitals in B.C.'s Interior

Patients seeking emergency care at four hospitals in British Columbia's Interior may now be seen by a doctor working virtually in a pilot project aimed at modernizing rural health services.

Virtual emergency care launching at four hospitals in B.C.'s Interior

Inside the Ring of Fire: A tale of two First Nations and a road that could change everything

First Nation elders understood the south would march north eventually. They knew it would come in waves, sometimes slow, sometimes fast. Those ancestors told their kids, who told theirs, and so on until today.

Inside the Ring of Fire: A tale of two First Nations and a road that could change everything

Half of Canadians support a new pipeline between Alberta and B.C.: poll

Half of Canadians are in favour of building a new bitumen pipeline between Alberta and B.C., while fewer than one in five outright oppose it, a new poll suggests.

Half of Canadians support a new pipeline between Alberta and B.C.: poll

Bank of Canada leaves key interest rate unchanged at 2.25%

The Bank of Canada left its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday as it signalled the 2.25 per cent level is about right to balance keeping inflation in check with helping the economy grow.

Bank of Canada leaves key interest rate unchanged at 2.25%

PM says new envoy to U.S. will have window to prepare for next phase of trade talks

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada's next ambassador to Washington will have a window to prepare for the next phase of trade relations with the United States.