Saskatchewan’s minimum wage is set to increase once again, but the province still lags behind the rest of the country.
The Government of Saskatchewan has announced that the province’s minimum wage will increase by 36 cents from $11.45 to $11.81 per hour on October 1, 2021.
This will be the 13th increase to the province's minimum wage since 2007. Back then, the minimum wage was just $7.95.
Saskatchewan currently has the lowest minimum wage in the country. The second-lowest rate is in New Brunswick at $11.75 per hour. Nunavut leads the country at $16/hour. More information about minimum wage rates in Canada is available through the Retail Council of Canada's website.
"Dealing with COVID-19 over the past year and a half has been a difficult time for everyone in Saskatchewan," Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Minister Don Morgan said. "The provincial government has a strong framework in place to ensure that we are supporting both businesses and workers as we move into recovery after the pandemic. As life returns to normal, sustainable and predictable increases to our minimum wage help ensure that everyone will be able to benefit from a strong and growing Saskatchewan in the future."
The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) has criticized the increase, saying it does not go far enough.
“It’s incredibly insulting that, after what working people in Saskatchewan have been through over the past year, the provincial government would announce a raise for minimum wage workers that amounts to a small handful of change,” said SFL president Lori Johb, who also noted that "anything less than $15 an hour is unacceptable."
Saskatchewan’s minimum wage is reviewed annually and calculated using an indexation formula. The formula gives equal weight to changes to the Consumer Price Index and Average Hourly Wage for Saskatchewan.
Increases are announced by June 30 and take effect on Oct. 1 of each year.
