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Annual Adjustment of Minimum Wage - Act Part 3, Section 16.2

Last updated on February 14, 2025

Contents:

Summary
Text of Legislation
Policy Interpretation
Related Information

Summary

This section sets out the minimum wage that employers must pay their employees.

Text of Legislation

16.2. (1) In this section, "consumer price index" means the annual average All-items Consumer Price Index for British Columbia, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act (Canada).

(2) Subject to this section, every year on June 1, beginning on June 1, 2024,

(a) the minimum wage referred to in section 16.1 (1) is adjusted in accordance with the formula set out in subsection (4) of this section, and

(b) the adjusted minimum wage is rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.05 or, if the adjusted minimum wage is equidistant from 2 consecutive multiples, to the higher multiple.

(3) Subject to this section and the regulations, every year on June 1, beginning on June 1, 2024,

(a) a minimum wage referred to in section 16.1 (2) is adjusted in accordance with the formula set out in subsection (4) of this section, and

(b) the adjusted minimum wage is rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.01 or, if the adjusted minimum wage is equidistant from 2 consecutive multiples, to the higher multiple.

(4) The following formula applies for the purposes of subsections (2) (a) and (3) (a):

adjusted minimum wage = previous minimum wage × Index A / Index B

where

 
adjusted minimum wage is, subject to subsection (2) (b) or (3) (b), the new minimum wage;
previous minimum wage is the minimum wage that applied immediately before the adjustment under this section;
Index A is the consumer price index for the immediately preceding calendar year;
Index B is the consumer price index for the calendar year immediately preceding the calendar year referred to in the description of Index A.

(5) Subsections (2) and (3) do not apply to a minimum wage referred to in section 16.1 (1) or (2), as the case may be, in relation to a calendar year if the adjustment to the minimum wage under this section in that calendar year would result in a decrease in the minimum wage.

(6) The minister must publish the minimum wages referred to in section 16.1, as adjusted under this section, on a publicly accessible website.

Policy Interpretation

Section 16.2 of the Employment Standards Act modifies the baseline minimum wage in section 16.1, Minimum wage according to the annual adjustment calculation in subsection (4).

Employers must pay an employee at least the agreed-upon rate of pay. This rate of pay must meet or exceed the minimum wage rates as set out in this Act.

The minimum wage rate established in this Act will be the wage rate enforced by the director if

  • No agreement was reached between the parties on a wage rate
  • The wage rate agreed to between the parties can't be determined

Subsection (1)

The All-items Consumer Price Index for British Columbia measures the changes in prices as experienced by consumers in British Columbia. BC Stats publishes monthly and annual CPI data. For the purposes of this section, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) means the annual average All-items Consumer Price Index for British Columbia.

Find out more about the CPI: Consumer price index portal - Government of Canada

Subsection (2)

On June 1, 2024, and on June 1 of each year afterwards, the baseline minimum wage in subsection (1) of section 16.1, Minimum wage is adjusted according to the calculation in subsection (4). The resulting minimum wage is rounded to the nearest 5 cents.

Subsection (3)

On June 1, 2024, and on June 1 of each year afterwards, any prescribed minimum wages referred to in subsection (2) of section 16.1, Minimum wage are adjusted according to the calculation in subsection (4). The resulting minimum wages are rounded to the nearest cent.

Subsection (4)

For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), the adjusted minimum wage is the previous minimum wage multiplied by the annual percent change of the CPI for the previous year. The annual percent change is found by dividing the CPI for the previous year (Index A) by the CPI for the year before it (Index B).

Subsection (5)

If the adjustment described in subsection (4) would result in a decrease from the previous year (in other words, if the CPI decreased in the previous year), then the minimum wage values are not adjusted. Instead, the minimum wage values stay the same as the previous year.

Subsection (6)

On June 1 of each year, the adjusted minimum wages are published on the publicly accessible Employment Standards Branch website: Minimum wage.

Employees covered by a collective agreement

Section 3 provides that parties to a collective agreement may not negotiate terms and conditions that do not meet or exceed the standards set out in section 16.2. Where there is a collective agreement, the enforcement of matters relating to section 16.2 is through the grievance procedure, not through the enforcement provisions of the Act.

Related Information

Related sections of the Act or Regulation

ESA

ESR

Other

Commission Sales
Consumer Price Index (CPI) - Province of British Columbia
Consumer price index portal - Government of Canada