Article content

The cost of school crossing guards will grow by about $580,000 over the next two years as the minimum wage rises to $15 an hour, a report to the upcoming Toronto Police Services Board shows.

Toronto Police employ 769 school crossing guards who earn hourly wages ranging from 11.90 to $14.44 — depending on years of service.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or New minimum wage boosts cost of Toronto crossing guards by $580,000 Back to video

Premier Kathleen Wynne is boosting the current minimum wage of $11.60 an hour to $14 on Jan. 1, and then to $15 on Jan. 1, 2019.

The police board estimates the increased cost of bringing school crossing guards up to the new minimum wage will be $230,900 in 2018 and $352,400 in 2019, says the report to Thursday’s police services board meeting.

Mayor John Tory said he doesn’t begrudge the crossing guards a pay boost given the important work they do protecting children.

“It’s not as if they were paid an exorbitant amount of money before,” Tory said Sunday. “And it’s not as if they even get that many hours … They work in this split shift arrangement, in the morning and afternoons.”