Ontario confirms hike to minimum wage for October

Ontario’s minimum wage is set to rise again this fall, with the provincial government announcing the general rate will increase from $17.60 to $17.95 an hour on Oct. 1, 2026, a move it says will protect workers’ earning power while helping businesses plan for the future.

The change will benefit “more than 700,000 workers across the province” and give Ontario “one of the highest” minimum wages in Canada, according to the provincial government.

 The 35-cent increase is tied to Ontario’s 1.9 per cent Consumer Price Index (CPI), as required under the Employment Standards Act, 2000.

The government describes the measure as a “balanced approach that supports workers’ earning power and helps keep Ontario competitive in a time of global economic uncertainty.” The annual adjustment mechanism, it says, helps ensure wages “continue to reflect economic conditions while protecting workers and providing businesses with greater stability.”

Extra $728 per week in Ontario

According to the province, a worker earning the general minimum wage and working 40 hours per week will see an annual pay increase of approximately $728 once the new rate takes effect.

The minimum wage hike will affect a wide range of sectors. Roughly 35 per cent of minimum-wage workers are employed in retail trade and 24 per cent in accommodation and food services, according to provincial figures.  

Alongside the general minimum wage, several specialized rates will also rise on Oct. 1, 2026. The student minimum wage will move from $16.60 to $16.90 per hour. Homeworkers will see their minimum wage climb from $19.35 to $19.70 per hour. For hunting, fishing and wilderness guides, the rate will increase to $89.75 for working less than five consecutive hours in a day, and $179.50 for working five or more hours in a day, whether or not the hours are consecutive.

The government notes that employers must ensure even commission-based pay structures respect the law.

“If an employee’s pay is based completely or partly on commission, it must amount to at least the minimum wage for each hour the employee has worked,” the province states. To help employers and workers verify they are meeting their obligations, the government is encouraging the use of its Employment Standards Self-Service Tool, which can be used “to check compliance with rules on minimum wage and other employment standards entitlements.”

About one in three (32 per cent) of Canadian companies say mandatory minimum wage hikes result in increased salaries/wages across the entire company – not just for minimum wage workers.

Minimum wages across Canada

The federal hourly minimum wage jumps to $18.10 from the current $17.75, effective today, April 1, 2026.

Also today, the minimum wage rates among the following provinces are rising:

• from $15.65 to $15.90 in New Brunswick
• from 16.00 to $16.35 in Newfoundland and Labrador
• from $16.50 to $16.75 in Nova Scotia
• from $16.50 and to $17.00 in Prince Edward Island
• from $17.94 to $18.51 in Yukon

Here are the minimum wage rates across Canada, according to government websites as of 2026: