Possible boost for BC's minimum wage as government gears up for announcement

NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The minimum wage in BC is one of the lowest across the country and it’s unclear if it may be going up sooner rather than later.

That’s the hope advocates have as Premier John Horgan and Labour Minister Harry Bains are set to make an announcement surrounding wages on Thursday morning.

The last increase came in September of 2017, when the New Democrats boosted it by 50 cents, to $11.35 an hour.

During the last provincial election campaign, the NDP had promised a $15 an hour minimum wage by 2021, but stepped back on that specific timeline when the party got into power.

Deanna Ogle, with the Living Wage Coalition, says they want BC to follow Ontario’s footsteps and make it $15 an hour by 2019. “Families need those wages now. We know there are a lot of families that are struggling. The vast majority of families who are in poverty right now, are working.”

She agrees businesses would need time to adjust to the change, and thinks the 2019 timeline is fair.

“But what we’ve heard… from the community and from a lot of local small businesses is that they recognize increasing the minimum wage is an investment in the local economy; and a strong minimum wage means that those individuals — that higher paycheck — and spending it directly in their local stores.”

Horgan and Bains will be speaking at a coffee shop in North Vancouver and NEWS 1130 will have details of the announcement both on-air and online.