- Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor

We're not yet back to the $15 hour the Provincial Liberal government had promised for 2019, but today does bring 25 cents more per hour for those living on minimum wage.

As of today, the general minimum wage is $14.25. For students under 18 working 28 hours week or less, it is $13.40, and for those serving alcohol on licensed property, it is $12.45.

Our local Owen Sound businesses often pay more than minimum wage – sometimes much more - for hospitality and retail workers, in order to attract and retain the reliable staff with good customer service skills on which they have built their reputations.

Future increases in the minimum wage will be tied to the rate of inflation, but critics say the base rate is too far below a living wage. United Way Bruce of Bruce Grey has calculated that for a 2-income family a living wage rate of at least $18.39/hr for full time hours is required.

Ontario capped the province's minimum wage at $14 an hour until today as part of a rollback in October 2018 of labour reforms introduced by the previous Liberal government. Two paid personal leave days were removed, and a number of scheduling provisions that affect the most precarious workers were eliminated, including a minimum of three hours pay if a shift is cancelled 48 hours or less before it was scheduled to begin.