Ontario

Minimum Wage

The minimum wage rates in each of the above categories and scheduled annual increases are set out below:

General Minimum Wage - $10.25/hour
This rate applies to most employees.

Student Minimum Wage - $9.60/hour
This rate applies to students under the age of 18 who work 28 hours a week or less when school is in session or work during a school break or summer holidays.

Liquor Servers Minimum Wage - $8.90/hour
This hourly rate applies to employees who serve liquor directly to customers or guests in licensed premises as a regular part of their work. "Licensed premises" are businesses for which a license or permit has been issued under the Liquor Licence Act.

Hunting and Fishing Guides Minimum Wage - $51.25 rate for working less than five consecutive hours in a day
Hunting and Fishing Guides Minimum Wage - $102.50 rate for working five or more hours in a day whether or not the hours are consecutiveThe minimum wage for hunting and fishing guides is based on blocks of time instead of by the hour. They get a minimum amount for working less than five consecutive hours in a day, and a different amount for working five hours or more in a day--whether or not the hours are consecutive.

Homeworkers Wage - $11.28/hour (110 per cent of the general minimum wage)
Homeworkers are employees who do paid work in their own homes. For example, they may sew clothes for a clothing manufacturer, answer telephone calls for a call centre, or write software for a high-tech company. Note that students of any age (including students under the age of 18 years) who are employed as homeworkers must be paid the homeworker's minimum wage.

Minimum wage for Employees who earn Commission
If an employee's pay is based completely or partly on commission, it must amount to at least the minimum wage for each hour the employee has worked.

Exemptions from Minimum Wage
Minimum wage regulations in Ontario do not apply to the following:

• a person who is employed as a student in a recreational program operated by a charitable organization registered under Part I of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and whose work or duties are directly connected with the recreational program
• a person employed as a student to instruct or supervise children
• a person employed as a student at a camp for children
• a person who is employed as the superintendent, janitor or caretaker of a residential building and resides in the building 

What can employers can deduct for room and board?

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

How much am I entitled to be paid if I am sent home from work early?

When an employee is required to report to work for a shift of 3 hours or longer but works less than three hours, he or she must be paid whichever of the following amounts is the highest:

• three hours at the minimum wage or
• the employee's regular wage for the time worked.

This rule does not apply to:

• students (including students over 18 years of age)
• employees whose regular shift is three hours or less
• where the cause of the employee not being able to work at least three hours was beyond the employer's control

For more information see the Ontario Minimum Wage Guide.