Rush file photo
The Yukon government is raising the minimum wage in April
Effective April 1, 2023, the Yukon’s minimum wage will increase from $15.70 to $16.77 per hour.
This increase is based on the 2022 Consumer Price Index for Whitehorse which is 6.8 per cent.
Minister of Community Services Richard Mostyn says “across Canada, indeed around the world, inflation is increasing the cost of goods, services and food. This minimum-wage increase, linked to the annual rise in the Yukon’s consumer price index, will help the Yukon’s lowest paid workers during these difficult inflationary times.
He says increasing the minimum wage to inflation is just fair and it will help people with the lowest pay in the Yukon to afford basic necessities.
Kate White of the Yukon NDP says “with prices of essential goods skyrocketing, it’s getting harder and harder for folks to make ends meet, let alone save for the future. Increasing the minimum wage to inflation is just fair – and it will help people with the lowest pay in the Yukon to afford basic necessities.
Quick facts
- This increase aligns with other jurisdictions that have already raised their hourly minimum wage above $15. British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut all have minimum wages at or above $15 per hour.
- The Government of Canada raised the federal minimum wage to $15.55 an hour on April 1, 2022.
- According to 2021 Yukon Employment and Skills survey data, 887 of 22,758 (or four per cent) of employed people in the Yukon reported earning a minimum wage in the fall of 2021.
- Gross annual salary based for a worker earning minimum wage at 40 hours per week would increase to $34,811.60 after April 1, 2023.
