Ontario raises minimum wage to $11.25

Ontario will have the second highest minimum wage in Canada as of October, after the province announced Thursdayit will boost the baseline wage this fall.

The minimum wage will rise from $11 to $11.25 per hour, as of Oct. 1, the government said in a news release. That will put Ontario just behind the Northwest Territories, which plans to raise its minimum wage to $12.50 this June. Currently, according to the Retail Council of Canada, Ontario and Nunavut have the highest minimum wages in the country.

Special minimum wages, for groups like students and homeworkers,are also going up in Ontario.

The Ministry of Labours news release said the increase keeps the minimum wage in step with a recent increase to Ontarios Consumer Price Index, the main measurement of inflation.

On Twitter, premier KathleenWynnesaid the move was designed to help lower-income families keep up with cost of living increases.

The government raised the minimum wage to $11 in 2014 then an increase of 75 cents which marked the first time the benchmark wage had gone up since 2010.

Most minimum wage-earners work in the accommodation,food, retail and agriculture sectors, the government said.