Saskatchewan Minimum Wage Lowest In Canada

One of the organizers of the Fight for 15 Saskatchewan protests, Saima Desai, "Saskatchewan having the lowest minimum wage in Canada at $11.06 an hour and in mock celebration of that statistic," she continues to share that they had a party to call out the Sask Party for the way people in Saskatchewan continue to live under the poverty line. "They are calling for people across the province to institute a $15 per hour minimum wage. This comes after Nova Scotia on Monday increased its minimum wage to $11.55 per hour, leaving Saskatchewan in the last place. Around a dozen people served cake and encouraged people to sign a petition calling for a $15/hour minimum wage in a “party and protest” event organized by Fight for 15 Saskatchewan."

“When a minimum wage was instituted, the idea behind a minimum wage was that you should be able as an adult who had a family to be able to provide for your family. That was what the minimum meant. It meant a basic dignity of life, and that is no longer true for the minimum wage in Saskatchewan. Eleven dollars an hour does not ensure the dignity of life,” said Saima Desai.

Don Morgan, Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, said the provincial government is not currently considering upping Saskatchewan’s minimum wage. The Bank of Canada has indicated that if we did an immediate increase to $15 an hour it could have across Canada a detrimental effect to 60,000 jobs.

Desai said the province’s current minimum wage is keeping people in poverty, “Frankly, under $17 you’re living in poverty. Seventeen dollars is around the wage that you would need to be making to afford just the basics here."