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N.W.T. minimum wage set to rise 5.6% to $16.05 an hour in September

The minimum wage in the Northwest Territories is rising 5.6% on Sept. 1, 2023 — jumping from $15.20 per hour to $16.05.

This change reflects the percentage changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the average hourly wage for 2021 and 2022, according to the territorial government.

“This year is the first year we’ve adjusted the minimum wage based on the formula that takes into account the cost of living,” said R.J. Simpson, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. “We recognize that the minimum wage needs to work for both employers and employees. With these planned annual increases, we’re making it easier for businesses to prepare for minimum wage adjustments, while helping to ensure the lowest paid workers in the NWT get regular pay raises.”

In 2022, the GNWT changed the way it calculates and adjusts the minimum wage. This change allows businesses to be better able to plan for minimum wage adjustments, as they will occur annually on Sept. 1, and makes sure minimum wage earners receive regular, anticipated pay increases, it said in a press release.

The new method of calculating the minimum wage has achieved what GNWT called a “moderate and predictable increase… which provides stability and certainty to the territory’s business community while helping residents of the NWT keep up with the cost of living.”

The department of Education, Culture, and Employment will be conducting a public survey in the fall to get feedback on the new method for adjusting the minimum wage, it said.

The last increase to the NWT’s minimum wage occurred on Sept. 1, 2021 and represented an increase of $1.74; from $13.46 to $15.20 per hour. Before that, the minimum wage hadn’t changed since April 1, 2018, when it went up from $12.50 to $13.46 per hour.

Beginning this year, the minimum wage rate will be adjusted annually using a formula based on the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Yellowknife and the percentage change in the average hourly wage in the NWT for the preceding calendar year.