How much $$ you stackin?

Canadian minimum wage rates an international disgrace

Caledon Institute report paints a portrait of shocking
exploitation by Canadian business and political leaders

Ottawa - Minimum wages in Canada are lower than they were 25 years ago, lower than in most industrialized countries and lower in most cases than in the United States, the unforgiving free-market bastion of the world, says a new study by the Caledon Institute of Social Policy.

One of the worst offenders in Canada is the Tory government of Ontario, which has not raised its minimum wage rate of $6.85 for the past eight years. Provincial NDP leader Howard Hampton recently skated 800 laps on the rink outside Toronto City Hall to highlight the situation.

Minimum wages are so low in Canada that two parents would have to work full-time all year long to earn more than welfare benefits, (which have also been severely squeezed by many provinces, notably Ontario, in recent years).

Canadian minimum wages are lower than in most other industrial countries, and significantly below American rates. And contrary to what self-serving business leaders suggest, most minimum wage workers are adults (60%), not teeagers at McDonalds. And most are women.

The Caledon Institute report, written by Ken Battle, says nine Canadian jurisdictions had minimum wages below the lowest U.S. minimum wage of $6.54 (the federal U.S. rate) and below the minimum wage rates in 42 states and districts.

Way below the poverty line

Minimum wages have fallen so low in Canada that, even when combined with government tax credits for the poor, they fall far below Statistics Canada's low-income cutoffs, which are generally considered the poverty line, the report says.

"For example, after-tax income in 2001 from minimum wages and government benefits for single, minimum-wage workers fell short of the after-tax poverty line for the largest city in every province," Battle writes.

Battle says families of four, trying to live on a single minimum-wage income, trail the poverty line by margins ranging from $12, 213 annually in Alberta (one of the richest provinces) to $3,756 below in Saskatchewan.

"While most, if not all governments likely will resist calls to boost the minimum wage, at the very least they could take immediate action and follow the lead of the state of Washington by agreeing to index their minimum wages," Battle argues.

"At least the wage safety net would not sag even further."
(http://www.nupge.ca/news_2003/n29ja03b.htm)

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