B.C.’s minimum wage to jump 65 cents on June 1

Minimum-wage workers in British Columbia will get a pay hike of 65 cents an hour to $17.40 starting June 1, a move the government says will help lift more people out of poverty.

The Ministry of Labour says in a statement the 3.9-per-cent increase is consistent with the province’s average inflation rate last year.

Labour Minister Harry Bains says the province has gone from having one of the lowest minimum wages in the country to the highest of all provinces, and the change is aimed at preventing more workers from falling behind.

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Bains says increases for the lowest wage will be automatic from now on and will be determined by the previous year’s average inflation rate, offering predictability for workers and employers.

The statement says the minimum piece rates for 15 hand-harvested crops will also increase by 3.9 per cent on Dec. 31.

The government says the decision to delay the pay raise for hand-harvested crops is meant to ensure producers will not have to adjust wages in the harvest season.