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This is a picture explaining why many people started to protest to increase minimum wage. Not only did they want to increase the wage but they also wanted more benefits such as paid sick days, paid medication, and also paid vacation days.

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This website explains the new legislation that was passed to increase Ontario's general minimum wage. It also includes information about the wage increase for liquor servers, homeworkers, hunting and fishing guides, and students under 18 years old.

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What's new

We've passed legislation to increase Ontario's general minimum wage from $11.60 per hour to:

$14 per hour on January 1, 2018

$15 per hour on January 1, 2019

Special minimum wage rates remain but will increase by the same percentage as the general minimum wage for:

Learn more about the legislation and other changes to Ontario's employment and labour laws.

Special minimum wage rates

Liquor servers

Liquor servers will see an increase from $10.10 per hour to:

$12.20 per hour on January 1, 2018

$13.05 per hour on January 1, 2019

Students under 18

Students under the age of 18, who work part time during the school year (up to 28 hrs/week) and on school breaks, will see an increase from $10.90 per hour to:

$13.15 per hour on January 1, 2018

$14.10 per hour on January 1, 2019

Fishing and hunting guides

Working 5 hours a day or less

Fishing and hunting guides who work less than 5 consecutive (i.e. back-to-back) hours a day, will see an increase from $58 per day to:

Working more than 5 hours a day

Fishing and hunting guides who work 5 or more hours a day (whether or not the hours are consecutive) will see an increase from $116 per day to:

Homeworkers

Homeworkers (i.e. employees who do paid work in their own home for an employer) will see an increase from $12.80 per hour to:

$15.40 per hour on January 1, 2018

$16.50 per hour on January 1, 2019

Enforcing the new minimum wage

We will enforce these changes by:

hiring up to 175 more employment standards officers

launching a program to educate both employees and small- and medium-sized businesses about their rights and obligations under the Employment Standards Act

Wage increases after 2019

Any minimum wage increases after January 1, 2019 will continue to be tied to annual adjustments to Ontario's Consumer Price Index.

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We've passed legislation to increase Ontario's general minimum wage from $11.60 per hour to: $14 per hour on January 1, 2018 $15 per hour on January 1, 2019 Special minimum wage rates remain but will increase by the same percentage as the general minimum wage for: Learn more about the legislation and other changes to Ontario's employment and labour laws.

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This is a picture showing the increases in minimum wage from 2005 to 2018. As you can see in the photo below, there has been a major increase from 2017 to 2018.

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In this video, reporters talk about the new wage increase in Ontario. They also interview a employee and ask her opinion about the new increase. They also discuss how small businesses are effected from this new legislation.

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Ontario's minimum wage jumps to $14 an hour

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In this video, both positive and negative impacts of minimum wage increase are explained. Employers have to make changes on how they run their business, so that means they either increase the wage of employees to keep them, or get rid of some employees so their business keeps running.

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Minimum wage change has immediate impact

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People need to realize that not only students and young adults work for minimum wage. Many older people also work for minimum wage jobs, so the increase can help them survive. For example women with children would benefit from getting more money each pay check to hep support their daily lives.

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This article explains the effects of minimum wage increase has on employers and employees. Many businesses had to reduce hiring, reduce benefits, cut employees work hours, and charge higher prices. Low skilled laborers are getting replaced with higher skilled workers because of the increase in wage. The article continues to talk about the negative and positive effects on this issue.

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The economic impact of Ontario's minimum-wage hike on the province's lowest earners has received a great deal of attention, but the effect is felt more broadly by employers who face labour cost increases.

Ontario increased its minimum wage to $14 from $11.60 on Jan. 1 and plans another hike - to $15 an hour - next year. As predicted, some businesses responded immediately by reducing hiring, cutting employee work hours, reducing benefits and charging higher prices. Further, Ontario experienced a decline of more than 59,000 part-time jobs in January, as highlighted by Statistics Canada. While it is too early to attribute this decline to any specific factor, the sharp wage hike is unlikely to have helped.

The hikes also likely spread beyond those earning a minimum wage; an increase in the minimum wage ripples through the wage distribution and potentially leads to higher incomes for other workers.

Many workers who earned close to the minimum wage prior to the increase likely also saw higher paycheques. Their remuneration needs to go beyond the new minimum wage to reflect their experience and ability. Otherwise, non-experienced minimum-wage employees and more experienced or higher-skilled workers receive the same pay, skewing incentives in the workplace.

Similarly, employers may raise all wages to maintain a relative hierarchy of wages according to employee skill levels. This broader wage adjustment may be necessary for businesses to remain competitive in the labour market and reduce turnover.

In these scenarios, business owners may substitute low-skilled employees with high-skilled workers because of an increase in the relative price of low-skilled labour. As such, raising the minimum wage could also increase the demand for skilled labour and, consequently, their wages.

How far does this ripple effect spread across the wage spectrum and how wide is its impact?

A Canadian study shows that raising the minimum wage significantly affects wages up to the 15th percentile of the wage-distribution ladder, that is, of the wages of the lowest 15 per cent of earners. The further wages of workers are from the minimum wage, the more the effect of any increase in minimum wage is mitigated.

As such, a minimum-wage increase has the potential to reduce income inequality, as more workers at the bottom of wage distribution earn wages close to middle-class wages. However, depending on its size, an increase in the minimum wage can have sharply different outcomes on the distribution of overall earnings.

In a C.D. Howe Institute study, Professor Joseph Marchand of the University of Alberta argued the poverty impact of a minimum-wage hike depends on whether minimum-wage workers kept the nature and working hours of their employment unchanged. It is best, as a result, to introduce such hikes when the economy is strong.

A study that looked at the effect of minimum-wage increases on wage inequality across Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development-member countries also shows the minimum-wage hike actually begins to increase income inequality beyond a certain "maximum-effectiveness" level. After reaching this level, additional wage increases are too high, insofar as they can be accompanied by significant job losses and actually increasing inequalities as a result.

Furthermore, a higher minimum wage results in higher labour costs that are eventually passed onto customers, causing inflationary pressures. Thus, while raising the minimum wage seems to have no initial ripple effect on wages at the middle or top of the wage distribution, the impact on inflation eventually results in higher wages across the wage ladder.

The January weakness in Ontario's labour market will no doubt spur a debate on whether the province has exceeded the threshold at which higher minimum wages actually exacerbate, rather than reduce, inequalities. It would be wise to consider giving the labour market more time to adjust to the recent increase before rushing forward with the plan for a second increase, to $15 an hour, next January.

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The ripple effect of Ontario's minimum-wage increase

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The economic impact of Ontario's minimum-wage hike on the province's lowest earners has received a great deal of attention, but the effect is felt more broadly by employers who face labour cost increases. Ontario increased its minimum wage to $14 from $11.60 on Jan.

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This video explains how the increase in minimum wage backfires on employees. Some businesses can't afford to pay the new wage, and some businesses find that entry level employers receiving this new minimum wage s not worth it for their company. Fast food restaurants are now relying more on self serving machines instead of cashiers because it saves them more money and is also more efficient.

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Maximum Rage for Minimum Wage Backfires on Protesters

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Minimum Wage Backfire: McDonald's Goes Touchscreen

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The rise of the machines may be here sooner than we first thought. And it's showing up the most in two places: Wall Street and the minimum wage movement. It's the ultimate battle of class warfare, now complicated by the tech industry.

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This article explains how consumers are being effected by the increase in minimum wage. Since the minimum wage is increasing, prices for products are also increasing. Businesses are forced to increase their prices because they would lose business if they don't. The result of this is the increase in inflation rates across the country.

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It may come as little surprise, but Ontario's consumers are shouldering at least some of the burden of the province's minimum wage hike.

The cost of eating at a restaurant in Ontario spiked the most in decades in January, a clear sign that business owners are passing on their higher labour costs to customers.

The price index for restaurant food in the province jumped by 1.9 per cent in January, the most since 1991 and nearly double the rate of any other province, according to data in Statistics Canada's consumer price index.
Watch: 3 easy tweaks to curb your spending for a big return
"If you were to think that was the result of Ontario's minimum wage, you'd be correct," Bank of Montreal senior economist Robert Kavcic wrote in a client note.

He described it as "an entirely predictable response" to the wage hike, which saw the province's minimum wage jump from $11.60 to $14 an hour at the start of the year.

For liquor servers, the minimum wage increased from $10.10 to $12.20 per hour. The province is on track to hike the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and to $13.05 per hour for liquor servers, as of Jan. 1 of next year.

The cost of child care and housekeeping services - two areas where employees tend to earn minimum wage - also accelerated, with prices rising by 5.9 per cent in the space of a month, compared to zero per cent in all other provinces.

"The impact of minimum wage legislation in Ontario was hard to ascertain in the January employment report, but easier to see in the price data," TD Bank senior economist James Marple wrote.

Ontario experienced a sharp drop of 51,000 jobs in January, sparking speculation that the minimum wage hike was prompting businesses to shed staff. But an analysis from Scotiabank concluded there is "little evidence" that the wage hike caused those job losses.

In essence, the job losses were in the wrong place to have been caused by the wage hike, Scotiabank argued. Some low-paying fields saw hiring improve in the month, while job losses were concentrated in higher-paying areas.
Inflation cooling ... or not
Even as restaurant prices jumped in Ontario, Canada's overall inflation rate cooled to 1.7 per cent on a year-over-year basis in January, down from 1.9 per cent in December, Statistics Canada said.

But analysts say that beneath the headline number, there is evidence of growing inflationary pressure - and that means the Bank of Canada is likely to continue hiking interest rates.

"The Bank ... may look through the one-time impact of higher minimum wages, but it cannot ignore the broader evidence of price pressures that are becoming apparent," Marple wrote.
Here are Canada's inflation rates by city (previous month in brackets):

St. John's, N.L.: 1.0 per cent (1.5)

Charlottetown-Summerside: 1.7 (2.0)

Halifax: 1.3 (1.5)

Saint John, N.B.: 1.8 (3.0)

Quebec: 1.1 (1.6)

Montreal: 1.6 (1.9)

Ottawa: 1.9 (1.6)

Toronto: 2.4 (1.9)

Thunder Bay, Ont.: 1.2 (1.0)

Winnipeg: 1.9 (2.7)

Regina: 2.6 (3.6)

Saskatoon: 2.6 (3.6)

Edmonton: 1.5 (2.2)

Calgary: 1.4 (2.0)

Vancouver: 2.7 (2.5)

Victoria: 1.5 (1.3)

With a file from The Canadian Press Also on HuffPost:

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Ontario Minimum Wage Hike Being Passed On To Consumers, StatCan Data Shows

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It may come as little surprise, but Ontario's consumers are shouldering at least some of the burden of the province's minimum wage hike. The cost of eating at a restaurant in Ontario spiked the most in decades in January, a clear sign that business owners are passing on their higher labour costs to customers.