Minimum wage in Canada 2026: CAD 18.15 federal and provincial rates

Federal or provincial: which rate your employee gets

Two questions decide the rate. First, is the employer federally regulated? Banks, telecoms and interprovincial or international transportation are; a software company, a restaurant or a retailer almost never is. Second, where is the work done? A provincially regulated employee is paid at least the general rate of the province or territory they work in.

Federally regulated employers pay CAD 18.15 unless the province's general rate is higher, in which case the higher rate applies. In October 2026 that means a federally regulated worker in British Columbia (CAD 18.25), Yukon (CAD 18.51) or Nunavut (CAD 20.17) gets the local rate.

• Toronto and the rest of Ontario: CAD 17.95 since October 1, 2026.
• Montreal and the rest of Quebec: CAD 16.60 since May 1, 2026.
• Vancouver and British Columbia: CAD 18.25 since June 1, 2026.
• Alberta: CAD 15.00, unchanged since October 1, 2018 and now the lowest general rate in the country.

Some provinces have separate rates for students, liquor servers or particular sectors. They are not in the tables below.

Other minimum wage rates in Canada

Canada minimum wage history

CAD 18.15 an hour per month and per year

No Canadian statute sets a monthly minimum; every rate is hourly. Federal standard hours are 8 a day and 40 a week, so the federal full-time equivalent is:

• Per month: 18.15 x 40 x 52 / 12 = CAD 3,146.00
• Per year: 18.15 x 40 x 52 = CAD 37,752.00

Applying the same 40-hour week to the provinces (an illustration, since provincial standard hours differ and we have not confirmed each one):

• Ontario, CAD 17.95: CAD 3,111.33 a month, CAD 37,336 a year
• Quebec, CAD 16.60: CAD 2,877.33 a month, CAD 34,528 a year
• Alberta, CAD 15.00: CAD 2,600 a month, CAD 31,200 a year

How often the rates move

The federal rate started at CAD 15.00 on December 29, 2021 and has risen every April 1 since: CAD 17.75 in 2025 to CAD 18.15 in 2026, a 2.3% increase. The amount for April 1, 2027 has not been announced.

Most provinces also index to inflation, each on its own date. Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan change on October 1; Quebec on May 1; British Columbia on June 1; the Northwest Territories and Nunavut on September 1; New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Yukon on April 1. Prince Edward Island has already announced CAD 17.60 from April 1, 2027. If you employ people in several provinces, payroll needs a rate change almost every season.

What an employer adds on top of the wage

Every employer outside Quebec pays Canada Pension Plan contributions of 5.95% on earnings above the CAD 3,500 basic exemption and Employment Insurance premiums at 1.4 times the employee rate of 1.63%. On the federal full-time minimum of CAD 37,752:

• CPP: (37,752 − 3,500) x 5.95% = CAD 2,037.99
• EI: 37,752 x 1.63% x 1.4 = CAD 861.50
• Total: CAD 2,899.49, or 7.68% on top of pay

At Ontario's rate the same math gives CAD 2,865.25 on CAD 37,336 (7.67%). Provincial items come on top: Ontario's Employer Health Tax runs from 0.98% to 1.95% of payroll, with the first CAD 1 million exempt for eligible employers, and every province charges workers' compensation premiums by industry. Quebec replaces CPP with the Quebec Pension Plan at 6.30%, adds the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan at 0.602% and the Health Services Fund at 1.65% to 4.26%. The employer cost index by country puts Canada's federal share next to other countries.

Paying a Canadian minimum-wage employee from the US

Without a Canadian entity you need an employer of record, which registers as the employer, withholds tax and remits CPP and EI. Published EOR list prices run from $99 (Native Teams, whose help center says EUR 99) to $699 (Oyster) per employee per month (checked October 16 and 18, 2026); Deel lists $599. That fee does not scale with salary: $599 is about 27% of the federal full-time minimum of CAD 3,146.00 a month, which is about $2,222. The Canada EOR guide shows an all-in monthly example, and EOR versus your own entity covers when incorporating starts to pay off.

Compare providers in our EOR rankings and EOR fees side by side. For context on what Canadians typically earn above the floor, see average salary in Canada, and for time off rules see Canadian maternity and parental leave.