B-C's minimum hourly wage is increasing to 17 dollars and 40 cents, up from 16.75.
The Labour Ministry says the 3.9 per cent increase kicks in on Saturday.
It says in a statement that the increase will help about 240-thousand workers in the province who currently earn less than 17.40 an hour.
The B-C government amended the Employment Standards Act in February so future increases to minimum wages happen automatically, based on the previous year's average inflation rate for the province.
The Bank of Canada is not ruling out future rate hikes just yet. The Bank of Canada projected that in October that inflation will fall back to the two per cent target in 2025.
A majority of Canadians think the federal government should spend more on health care, a housing strategy and initiatives to ease inflation and cost-of-living issues, a new poll suggests — but they also want it to freeze or reduce other spending. Nearly three-quarters of respondents to the new Leger poll, or 71 per cent, said the federal government should spend more on health care and health transfers to the provinces.
The first yearly update on B.C.'s health human resources strategy says 578 internationally educated nurses became fully registered in the province in 2023 compared with 288 in 2022. Staffing shortfalls have been blamed for a series of health-care woes across the province, including emergency room closures, overcrowding and hundreds of thousands of people going without a family doctor.
The Canadian Coast Guard says it's trying to identify the source of a diesel smell and sheen covering Vancouver's False Creek. It says it received a report of the apparent pollution around 6:20 p.m. Monday, but couldn't determine the source due to heavy rain and poor visibility.
Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers is reminding people to be on the lookout for the “Grinch” this holiday season. The agency says as street crimes are hitting an all-time high, porch pirates, parking lot break-and-enters and online fraud are among the things to watch out for this holiday season.
Mounties in Surrey say a “large quantity of illicit drugs” has been seized from two locations in north of the city. Police say officers executed two search warrants in North Surrey, leading to the arrest of two people.