The minimum wage in BC is currently $17.40 per hour. This rate was set on June 1, 2024, and was a $0.65 increase.
British Columbia has one of the highest minimum wage rates in Canada, likely because the cost of living in this province is also incredibly high. While the provincial government has promised to continue increasing the minimum wage in an attempt to combat inflation – it will increase again on June 1, 2025 to $17.85 per hour – it's still difficult for residents to survive on this wage alone.
Let's take a further look at the details surrounding British Columbia's minimum wage.
Key Takeaways
- The minimum wage in British Columbia is $17.40 per hour.
- The current rate was set on June 1, 2024, and it will increase to $17.85 on June 1, 2025.
- The cost of living in BC is very high, especially in large cities like Vancouver.
- The federal minimum wage was increased on April 1, 2025 for federally regulated industries to $17.75.
So how much is minimum wage BC?
The current minimum wage in BC is $17.40 per hour. It was raised from $16.75 to this amount in June of 2024.
Back in 2020, the provincial government made a commitment to increasing the minimum wage incrementally until it reached $15 per hour. Once that number was reached, they promised to continue increasing it alongside the rate of inflation.
The table below shows the details of when and how much the BC minimum wage in BC has increased since 2012:
| Date | BC minimum wage rate |
|---|---|
| June 1, 2024 | $17.40 |
| June 1, 2023 | $16.75 |
| June 1, 2022 | $15.65 |
| June 1, 2021 | $15.20 |
| June 1, 2020 | $14.60 |
| June 1, 2019 | $13.85 |
| June 1, 2018 | $12.65 |
| September 15, 2017 | $11.35 |
| September 15, 2016 | $10.85 |
| September 15, 2015 | $10.45 |
| May 1, 2012 | $10.25 |
The exceptions to the BC minimum wage norm
There are a few types of jobs where an hourly wage doesn't quite work out, so the BC minimum wage is determined a bit differently for these:
- Live-in camp leaders are paid a daily rate for each day or part-day they work. The current rate is $138.93 per day.
- Live-in home support workers are also paid a daily rate. Currently, the rate is $129.62 per day.
- Resident caretakers are paid a monthly rate if the building they manage contains more than 60 units – $3,548.63 per month. Otherwise, if there are between 9 and 60 units, the pay is a monthly rate plus a set amount per apartment unit they oversee – $1,041.80 per month, plus $41.74 per unit.
Piece rate workers are also an exception to the typical BC minimum wage rule. Those people or organizations that employ piece rate workers are required to tell their employees what the piece rate is before they start their work, and to pay a set wage for each specific task or job the employee performs.
There aren't any specific rates mentioned for these workers, except for farmers. If a farmer is paid a piece rate, there are minimum rates for each type of food crop they harvest.
Here are a few examples:
- Apples: $24.05 per bin
- Cherries: $0.70 per kg
- Mushrooms: $0.73 per kg
- Peas: $0.91 per kg
How does minimum wage BC measure up?
To determine whether the minimum wage BC is sufficient, we'll have to look at the cost of living in this province.
Naturally, with a province the size of British Columbia, the cost of living will vary between communities. In this "Cost of Living in BC" table created by Interior Health, 32 cities are listed alongside their associated costs for housing and living costs, and you can see how someone with a $60,000 annual income might fare.
Vancouver has the highest costs, and our fictional resident with their $60,000 salary is $12,311 in the red after paying expenses.
Doing some quick math, we can determine that there are 8,760 hours in 1 year. Someone earning the $17.40 per hour minimum wage in BC would have to work 3,448 hours to make $60,000.
That's more than 431 days of working 8-hour shifts – and it still wouldn't be enough to make ends meet. A living wage in Vancouver would have to be much higher than the current $17.40 per hour that minimum wage earners receive.
Even in the less expensive parts of B.C., it’s incredibly tough to survive with just minimum wage.
Federal minimum wage increase
The federal minimum wage increased to $17.75 on April 1, 2025. This wage rate is calculated annually based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), relative to the CPI of the previous year.
This change will affect workers in federally regulated private sectors, such as these:
- Banks
- Postal services
- Air and road transportation
- Telecommunications (telephone, internet, etc.)
- Radio and TV broadcasting
If a province or territory’s minimum wage rate is higher than the federal minimum wage, these workers will receive the higher of the two wages.
FAQ
What is minimum wage in BC?
The minimum wage in BC is currently $17.40 per hour. This rate was set on June 1, 2024, the most recent of many changes since the province committed to increasing minimum wage rates alongside inflation.
When was the last BC minimum wage increase?
The most recent change to the BC minimum wage was on June 1, 2024. In fact, this rate has increased on either June 1 or September 15 of every year for the past 10 years.
Is the minimum wage in British Columbia the highest in Canada?
No, BC's minimum wage isn't the highest, but it's up there. The only areas with a higher minimum wage are Yukon, with a rate of $17.94 per hour and Nunavut, with a rate of $19.00 per hour.
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