Navigating Minimum Wage

Introduction

Minimum wage can be a complex topic to understand. In some cases, a federal rate exists and must be applied. However, in other cases, a provincial or state minimum wage exists and must be applied instead. To help bring some clarity to the topic, we've put together this article. Here we tackle the minimum wage rates in both Canada and the United States.

The information that we've provided in this article is intended to be used as a guideline only. We strongly encourage you to pursue more information about the rules and rates that apply in your region. If any discrepancies exist between what we've shared and the information distributed by your official government sources, then the latter takes precedence.

Canada Minimum Wage

*Before we begin, we'd like to note that this article was published one week before the minimum wage in British Columbia is set to change (June 1st, 2021), and so we have proactively used that rate for the figures and references in our post*

In Canada, there is no federally set minimum wage. From 1965 until 1996, a federal rate did exist, however, by the mid-90s the rate had fallen so significantly behind the provincial rates that the Canada Labour Code was amended to address the discrepancy. While there have been calls to re-establish a federal minimum wage, the Canada Labour Code currently set's the minimum wage for an employee to the provincial minimum wage for the province or territory in which the employee is employed.

Many of the provinces are in process of increasing their minimum wage over the next few years. The average minimum wage across all provinces is currently $13.45, with the highest rate being $16.00 in Nunavut and the lowest being $11.45 in Saskatchewan.

We've broken down the minimum wage for each province in the table below. We have also noted the next expected minimum wage, the date that the change takes effect, and any extra information relevant to the minimum wage.

Again, the information that we've provided is intended to be used as a guideline. If there are any discrepancies between what we've shared and the information distributed by official government sources, then the latter takes precedence.

United States Minimum Wage

In the United States, the Fair Labour Standards Act (FLSA) set's the bar for minimum wage. Currently, The FSLA sets a standard minimum hourly pay of $7.25/hr for non-exempt workers in the United States, though many states opt to set a higher minimum wage for their citizens since the federal minimum wage hasn't been updated since July 24th, 2009.

In instances where a state has either a) not set a minimum wage (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee) or b) have a minimum wage below the federal rate (Georgia at $5.15, and Wyoming at $5.15) then the federal minimum wage must apply.

In some cases, a state may have different minimum wages based on the details of their employer. For example, in California, the minimum wage is $1.00 lower for businesses that have less than 26 employees. Another example is in Minnesota where the rate is $1.77 lower for businesses that make less than $500,000 a year.

We've noted the applicable minimum wage for all states in the table below. We've also made a note of any variations like the one we mentioned in California and Minnesota. If your state is not listed below, that means there is no state-wide regulation regarding minimum wage, in which case the federal rate applies.

Again, the information that we've provided is intended to be used as a guideline. If there are any discrepancies between what we've shared and the information distributed by official government sources, then the latter takes precedence.