By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
On May 1, International Workers’ Day, Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet announced a minimum wage hike. As of the beginning of the month, minimum wage for untipped positions is $16.10 per hour, an increase of 35 cents. Minimum wage for tipped positions rises to $12.90, an increase of 30 cents.
According to the Ministry of Labour, the increase of 2.2 per cent will impact 217,400 Quebec workers, including over 118,000 women. “Thanks to this measure, these workers’ disposable income will increase by as much as $484 per year” for those working full time, a ministry statement said, adding that the new minimum wage is expected to be just over half of the average hourly wage.
However, anti-poverty groups say the increase, which amounts to an extra $40.30 per month, doesn’t go far enough to help low-wage workers struggling to deal with several years of inflation and record rent increases.
“For a lot of people, [$484 per year] probably doesn’t even cover their rent increase,” said Marie-Ève Godbout, co-director of Action Plus Brome-Missisquoi, a Cowansville-based nonprofit which advocates for the rights of social assistance recipients and low-wage workers. “This is the smallest increase in ten years, and it’s indecent to scale it up so little when we have a housing crisis and inflation. There are people working full time who can’t afford both food and housing.”
A person working 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, with take-home pay of $16.10 per hour would earn $32,200 per year. According to a 2024 report from the Montreal-based Institut des recherches et informations socioéconomiques (IRIS), which compiles cost-of-living data around the province, a single, childless person with a car living in Bedford or Cowansville would need around $42,000 to pay for basic expenses, participate in society and put money aside for emergencies. In Bromont, that number is nearly $52,000. “It’s inconceivable that someone who works full time can’t live decently,” Godbout said. Action Plus advocates for a universal basic income, which Godbout said would reduce pressure on the health and legal systems as people took fewer risks to survive. “Poverty is expensive for society.”
Jean-Philippe Benjamin, co-coordinator of the Sherbrooke-based Table de concertation contre l’appauvrissement de l’Estrie (TACAE), said the increase “wouldn’t change a lot” for low-wage workers, many of whom work in the retail and service industries. He suggested boosting the solidarity tax credit and strengthening the social safety net alongside a minimum wage increase to better support low-wage workers.
Serge Petitclerc is the spokesperson for the Quebec City-based Collectif pour un Québec sans pauvreté (CPQSP), of which the TACAE is a member. “The previous minimum wage of $15.75 wasn’t enough to allow people to work their way out of poverty,” he said. “We can add 35 cents, but still, that’s $4.50 a week … the rent increase will eat that right up.” In January, the province’s housing tribunal estimated that rents would rise about 6.5 per cent, or $65 per month ($16.25 per week) for a person paying $1000 per month in 2024.
“Twenty per cent of people seeking help at food banks are working people, and with such a small salary increase, you’ll have more workers turning to food banks because rent is too high and salaries aren’t high enough,” he predicted.
Petitclerc noted that some people stay in minimum-wage jobs or low-wage jobs their whole careers, while others take part-time low-wage work to fit around their studies or other responsibilities. He argued for a higher minimum wage which would allow low-wage workers “not just to pay rent and eat, but to have a dignified life, which means having recreational activities, going out to eat from time to time, going camping for a week in the summer.”
He said a decent hourly wage would be closer to $28 per hour. “We won’t get there in a year, but these are things that can be planned over time – say, raise it to $18, then $20, then $22 and so on; that’s sensible long-term planning.”
“We’re close to a recession, mainly because of what’s going on with our southern neighbours, but we’re not really talking about the social safety net; we’re hearing a lot about tax cuts which will mainly benefit people who are relatively well off,” said Benjamin, the TACAE representative. “We’re definitely worried about this discourse.”
The Conseil du patronat du Québec, which represents the province’s major employers, did not immediately comment on the increase.