B.C.’s minimum wage is set to increase to $18.25 per hour on June 1 as part of the province’s efforts to keep pace with inflation.
The change represents a 40‑cent increase from the current rate of $17.85 and is tied to B.C.’s average inflation rate in 2025, which the province says was just over 2.1 per cent.
A June 1 increase is also coming for app-based ride-hailing and delivery workers, whose minimum rate will rise to $21.89 per hour of engaged time.
“Working people in our province are feeling the pressure of inflation,” Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside said in February. “That’s why we acted to bring in annual minimum‑wage increases… This matters for everyone, and especially for minimum‑wage workers, the people doing the jobs so many of us rely on every day.”
Since 2024, B.C.’s minimum‑wage system has automatically increased each year based on the previous year’s inflation.
The province says B.C. now has the highest minimum wage among Canadian provinces, whereas in 2011 it was the lowest in the country at $8 per hour.
The province says most minimum-wage earners are young adults, women and racialized workers in retail, food services and care industries.
The next increase is scheduled to set in right as Vancouver prepares to host seven matches of the FIFA World Cup in June and July—and minimum wage workers will likely be hot commodities as the city looks to meet a surge in tourism demands.