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

CBC head calls for a 'national conversation' on Conservatives' pledge to defund

With Donald Trump making "territorial claims," the new head of CBC says defunding the public broadcaster could erode a pillar of Canada's cultural identity. Marie-Philippe Bouchard, CEO of CBC-Radio-Canada, is calling for a "national conversation" on the Conservative promise to defund, and is launching a tour to get it started.

CBC head calls for a 'national conversation' on Conservatives' pledge to defund

These industries would be hit hardest by Trump's 25 per cent tariffs

Statistics Canada says the value of Canadian exports to the United States in 2023 exceeded $594 billion. More than 43 per cent of that came from just six industries: oil and gas extraction, oil and gas refining, auto manufacturing, aluminum production and processing, aerospace and crop and animal production.

These industries would be hit hardest by Trump's 25 per cent tariffs

Ukrainians worry as their three-year emergency visas are set to expire

Many of the 300,000 Ukrainians who have come to Canada on three-year emergency visas since 2022 face an uncertain future as their temporary resident permits come closer to expiring, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress warned Wednesday. Congress executive director Ihor Michalchyshyn said he met with Immigration Minister Marc Miller last week to ask his department to automatically renew the visas for another three years.

Ukrainians worry as their three-year emergency visas are set to expire

B.C. assembles 'war room' as U.S. tariff threat looms on Saturday

The relationship between the U.S. and Canada has "fundamentally changed," regardless of whether U.S. President Donald Trump's promised tariffs on Canadian goods materialize on Saturday, according to the chair of a new B.C. cabinet "war room" to tackle the threat. Ravi Kahlon, who is also British Columbia's housing minister, said the provincial government would work to diversify the province's economy and reduce its reliance on the United States.

B.C. assembles 'war room' as U.S. tariff threat looms on Saturday

Plane was in training spin when it crashed, killing instructor and student: report

A report says a plane was doing a training spin at a lower-than-recommended altitude when it went down in a lake near Edmonton, killing a flight instructor and a student pilot. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the plane was working properly and the weather was fine when it crashed in August 2023.

Plane was in training spin when it crashed, killing instructor and student: report

'Staggering' number of families struggle in B.C.'s system for disabled kids: advocate

The latest report from Jennifer Charlesworth's office says up to 83,000 young people with disabilities are not receiving adequate services in the province, and while spending increased by 190 per cent in the 18 years her office has been in place, the majority of that went to salaries and a narrow set of programs.