News Compensation Legislation
Reminder: Ontario’s minimum wage rising Oct. 1

Ontario is raising the minimum wage for workers on Oct. 1, 2022.

The increase is tied to the Consumer Price Index for 2022, meaning the bump this year will be 50 cents an hour to $15.50.

As of Oct. 1, 2022, the minimum wage will be as follows:

General minimum wage rate: $15.50 per hour

Student minimum wage rate: $14,60 per hour

Hunting, fishing and wilderness guides minimum wage: $77.60 (rate for working less than five consecutive hours in a day); $155.25 (rate for working five or more hours in a day whether or not the hours are consecutive.)

Homeworkers wage: $17.05 per hour (applies to people who do work in their own homes, such as call-centre workers or sewing for a clothing manufacturer.)

Room and board provisions

For the purposes of ensuring that the applicable minimum wage has been paid to an employee, an employer can take into account the provision of room and board (meals). Room and board will only be deemed to have been paid as wages if the employee has received the meals and occupied the room.

The amounts that an employer is deemed to have paid to the employee as wages for room or board or both is set out below:

• Room (weekly)
  • private $31.70
  • non-private $15.85
  • non-private (domestic workers only) $0.00
• Meals
  • each meal $2.55
  • weekly maximum $53.55
• Rooms and meals (weekly)
  • with private room $85.25
  • with non-private $69.40
  • non-private (domestic workers only) $53.55
• Harvest workers (only) weekly housing
  • serviced housing $99.35
  • unserviced housing $73.30

The three-hour rule

When an employee who regularly works more than three hours a day is required to report to work but works less than three hours, they must be paid whichever of the following amounts is the highest:

• three hours at their regular rate of pay, or
• the amount the employee earned for the time worked and wages equal to the employee’s regular wage for the remainder of the three hours.

For example, if an employee who is a liquor server is paid $15.00 an hour and works only two hours and is sent home, they are entitled to two hours at their regular rate of $15.00 an hour for the time worked (i.e., $15.00, the general minimum wage, × 2 = $30.00) plus another hour at their regular rate (i.e. the general minimum wage of $15.00 ) for a total payment of $45.00 which is $30.00 (for the time worked) + $15.00 (for the three-hour rule) = $45.00.

Note: The rule does not apply to:

• employees whose regular shift is three hours or less
• in some cases where the cause of the employee not being able to work at least three hours was beyond the employer’s control.

Note: As of January 1, 2019 the three-hour rule applies to students (including students over 18 years of age except if the student works:

• at a children’s camp, unless the student is also a wilderness guide
• providing instruction to or supervising children, unless the student is also a wilderness guide
• in a recreational program run by a charity, unless the student is also a wilderness guide.