The Ontario government is increasing the minimum wage to $16.55 an hour on October 1st.

That amounts to a 6.8 per cent pay raise for low-income workers.

A worker making the general minimum wage and working 40 hours per week will see an annual pay increase of nearly $2,200. There were 942,400 workers earning $16.55 per hour or below in 2022, the majority of whom are women.

The province says just over 40 per cent of workers at or below the current general minimum wage of $15.50 per hour are in retail trade and almost 25 per cent are in accommodation and food services.

Ontario’s new minimum wage is the highest of any province in the country.