Overview
- Employment and Social Development Canada, which announced the change Tuesday, set the new floor at $18.15 an hour starting April 1 after a 40‑cent increase from $17.75.
- The rate is recalculated each April using the prior year’s national Consumer Price Index, which rose 2.1% in 2025, then rounded to the nearest five cents.
- The federal floor covers workers in sectors Ottawa regulates, including banks, telecommunications, and interprovincial air, marine, rail and road transport, as well as many federal Crown corporations.
- Federally regulated employers must update payrolls by April 1 and pay the higher local rate where it exceeds the federal floor, with Yukon at $18.51 and Nunavut at $19.75, while British Columbia’s rate rises to $18.25 on June 1.
- Since the standalone federal wage was created in 2021, the floor has climbed 21%, a design the government says protects the lowest‑paid workers by tracking inflation.