B.C.’s minimum wage to increase next week

CHILLIWACK – British Columbia’s minimum wage will increase by 2.1 per cent effective next week.

The provincial government says the increase will boost the minimum wage from $17.85 to $18.25 per hour effective Monday, June 1. The same 2.1 per cent 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 province also says the minimum agricultural piece-rate wages for the hand harvesting of specified crops will increase by just over 2.1 per cent 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.

The B.C. government says it 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.

For context, 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.