It’s now official and on the books.
Alberta’s minimum wage will be going up to $15 an hour by 2018.
The hikes will be done in stages beginning in three weeks, on Oct. 1.
At that time, the minimum wage will rise a dollar, to $12.20 an hour which is the highest among all provinces, though Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are still higher.
Then, it will rise $1.40 in October 2017 and again in 2018.
Labour Minister Christina Gray says cabinet has passed the required regulation for the hike, fulfilling a promise made by Premier Rachel Notley’s government.
“One of the things we heard strongly from many of the stakeholders, including business, was the desire for certainty and to know what was coming. And in July we laid out the plan for all three years and now we’ve enacted that plan,” she explained, adding it’s about delivering a fair wage to low-end earners and their families.
“People who are working full-time jobs and are still not able to make ends meet,” said Gray. “We know that Alberta has the highest percentage of food bank use of working people.”
The only way the hike can be rescinded is by another order from Notley’s cabinet or by the next government.
