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Ontario Minimum Wage Increase

The Ontario government is raising the general minimum wage from $17.20 to $17.60 an hour, effective October 1, 2025. This change will affect over 800,000 workers across the province and will bring Ontario’s minimum wage to the second highest provincial rate in Canada.

What is Minimum Wage?

Minimum wage is the lowest wage rate an employer can legally pay an employee. In Ontario, most employees qualify for minimum wage, whether they are:

• Full-time, part-time, or casual workers
• Paid by the hour, commission, piece rate, flat rate, or salary

How Minimum Wage Changes in Ontario

Under the Employment Standards Act (ESA), Ontario’s minimum wage is adjusted every year based on the Ontario Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation that represents changes in prices experienced by Ontario consumers.

If the new rate takes effect partway through an employee’s pay period, the pay period is treated as if it was two separate pay periods. Employers must ensure employees are paid at least the applicable minimum wage for each part of the period.

Specialized Minimum Wage Rates

Alongside the general minimum wage, Ontario sets different minimum wage rates for certain categories of employees. These specialized minimum wage rates will also increase on October 1, 2025.

The Student minimum wage rate applies to students under the age of 18 who work 28 hours a week or less when school is in session, or work during a school break or summer holidays (for example, Christmas break, March break, etc.).  The Student minimum wage is increasing to $16.60 per hour.

The Homeworkers wage applies to employees who perform paid work from their own homes (for example, employees who sew clothes for a clothing manufacturer, answer telephone calls for a call centre, or write software for a high-tech company remotely).  Historically, the Homeworkers minimum wage was set at 110% of the general minimum wage to account for extra costs in performing the work, like electricity.  Currently, the Homeworkers minimum wage is expressed as a dollar value, which is increasing to $19.35 per hour.

Uniquely, the minimum wage for hunting and fishing guides, or wilderness guides, is based on blocks of time instead of by the hour.  They are entitled to a minimum amount for working less than five consecutive hours in a day, and a different minimum amount for working five hours or more in a day--whether or not the hours are consecutive. A wilderness guide is a person who is employed to guide, teach, or assist a person or people while they are engaged in with activities in a wilderness environment. The rate for workers working less than five consecutive hours in a day is increasing to $88.05, and the rate for workers working more than five hours in a day, whether or not the hours are consecutive, is increasing to $176.15.

Who does Minimum Wage Apply To?

The minimum wage rules in Ontario apply to employees who are employed in positions covered by the ESA. As such, individuals that are correctly categorized as independent contractors are exempt from the minimum wage provisions.

Further, some employees have jobs that are also exempt from the minimum wage provisions of the ESA because of the type of work or industry involved. These include:

• Secondary school students working in co-operative programs authorized by their school board;
• People participating in the Community Participation program as part of the Ontario Works program;
• Police officers (with the exception of lie detector sections in Part XVI of the ESA);
• Inmates taking part in work or rehabilitation programs;
• Young offenders who perform work as part of a sentence or court order;
• Politicians, judges, religious officials or elected trade union officials;
• Post-secondary students working in co-operative or work experience programs approved by their college or university; or
• Employees whose jobs are regulated by federal employment laws and standards, such as:
  • airlines;
  • banks;
  • the federal civil service;
  • post offices;
  • radio and television stations;
  • inter-provincial railways; and
  • inter-provincial trucking.

Takeaways for Employers

With the general minimum wage rate (and specialized minimum wage rates) increasing, employers should confirm that all employees are paid correctly starting October 1, 2025. Employers should review overtime, vacation pay, and other entitlements tied to wage rates to confirm they are calculated correctly at the new rates. Employment contracts, offer letters and employee handbooks should also be updated at this time if they reference outdated minimum wage figures.

Reach out to our team at CCPartners if you require more specific information about the application of minimum wage to your staff or assistance navigating wage issues.  

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