PART III — Standard Hours, Wages, Vacations and Holidays

DIVISION II — Minimum Wage and Age of Employment

178Minimum wage history

(1)

Subject to subsections (2) to (5), an employer shall pay to each employee a wage at a minimum hourly rate that is not less than the rate that is determined in accordance with section 178.1.

Province of employment

(2)

If the minimum hourly rate that is fixed, from time to time, by or under an Act of the legislature of the province where the employee is usually employed and that is generally applicable regardless of occupation, status or work experience is higher than the minimum hourly rate fixed under subsection (1), an employer shall pay to each employee a wage at a rate that is

(a)

if the wages of the employee are paid on an hourly basis, not less than that higher minimum hourly rate; or

(b)

if the wages of the employee are paid on any basis of time other than hourly, not less than the equivalent of the rate under paragraph (a) for the time worked by the employee.

Wage rate based on age

(3)

For the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), if minimum hourly rates for a province are fixed on the basis of age, the minimum hourly rate for that province is the highest of those rates.

Minimum on other basis than time

(4)

Where the wages of an employee are computed and paid on a basis other than time or on a combined basis of time and some other basis, the Minister may, by order,

(a)

fix a standard basis of work to which a minimum wage on a basis other than time may be applied; and

(b)

fix a minimum rate of wage that in the opinion of the Minister is the equivalent of

(i)

the minimum rate determined in accordance with subsection (2), if that minimum rate is higher than or equal to the minimum rate determined in accordance with section 178.1, or

(ii)

the minimum rate determined in accordance with section 178.1, if that minimum rate is higher than the minimum rate determined in accordance with subsection (2).

Minimum rate fixed by order to be paid

(5)

Except as otherwise provided by or under this Division, the employer shall pay to each employee who is paid on a basis other than time or on a combined basis of time and some other basis a wage at a rate not less than the minimum rate fixed by order under subsection (4).

R.S., 1985, c. L-2, s. 178; 1996, c. 32, s. 1; 2021, c. 23, s. 246

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178.1Minimum wage — rate history

(1)

Subject to subsection (2), the minimum hourly rate referred to in subsection 178(1) is $15.

Annual adjustment

(2)

On April 1 of each year after the year in which this section comes into force, the minimum hourly rate is to be adjusted to the rate, rounded up to the nearest $0.05, that is equal to the product of

(a)

as the case may be,

(i)

in respect of April 1 of the year after the year in which this section comes into force, $15, or

(ii)

in respect of April 1 of each subsequent year, the rate that is determined in accordance with this section on April 1 of the preceding year, and

(b)

the ratio that the Consumer Price Index for the preceding calendar year bears to the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year before that preceding calendar year.

Consumer Price Index

(3)

For the purposes of subsection (2), a reference to the Consumer Price Index for any calendar year means the average of the all-items Consumer Price Index for Canada, not seasonally adjusted, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, for each month in that year.

No adjustment

(4)

Despite subsection (2), the minimum hourly rate is not to be adjusted on April 1 of a given year if on that day the rate determined in accordance with that subsection is less than, as the case may be,

(a)

in respect of April 1 of the year after the year in which this section comes into force, $15; or

(b)

in respect of April 1 of each subsequent year, the rate that is determined in accordance with this section on April 1 of the preceding year.

2021, c. 23, s. 247

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179Employees under 18 years of age history

An employer may employ a person under the age of 18 years only

(a)

in an occupation specified by the regulations; and

(b)

subject to the conditions fixed by the regulations for employment in that occupation.

R.S., 1985, c. L-2, s. 179; 1996, c. 32, s. 2; 2018, c. 27, s. 448

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180 history

[Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 9 (1st Supp.), s. 6]

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181Regulations applicable to Division history

The Governor in Council may make regulations for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Division and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, may make regulations

(a)

requiring employers to pay employees who report for work at the call of the employer wages for such minimum number of hours as may be prescribed, whether or not the employee is called on to perform any work after so reporting for work;

(b)

fixing the maximum price to be charged for board, whether full or partial, furnished by or on behalf of an employer to an employee, or the maximum deduction to be made therefor from the wages of the employee by the employer;

(c)

fixing the maximum price to be charged for living quarters, either permanent or temporary, furnished by or on behalf of an employer to an employee, whether or not those quarters are self-contained and whether or not the employer retains general possession and custody thereof, or the maximum deduction to be made therefor from the wages of the employee by the employer;

(d)

governing the charges or deductions for furnishing uniforms or other articles of wearing apparel that an employer may require an employee to wear or requiring an employer in any specified circumstances to provide, maintain or launder uniforms or other articles of wearing apparel that the employer may require an employee to wear;

(e)

governing the charges or deductions for furnishing any tools or equipment that an employer may require an employee to use and for the maintenance and repair of any such tools or equipment;

(f)

specifying, for the purposes of section 179, the occupations in which persons under the age of 18 years, or any class of persons under that age, may be employed in an industrial establishment and fixing the conditions of that employment; and

(g)

exempting, on such terms and conditions and for such periods as are considered advisable, any employer from the application of section 178 in respect of any class of employees who are being trained on the job, if the training facilities provided and used by the employer are adequate to provide a training program that will increase the skill or proficiency of an employee.

R.S., 1985, c. L-2, s. 181; 1996, c. 32, s. 3; 2018, c. 27, s. 449

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