As per PaySource February 2012 Edition
Minimal Wage Updates
British Columbia
Effective May 1, 2012, the British Columbia minimum wage will increase to $10.25 per hour up from the current rate of $9.50 per hour. As well, the special minimum wage for liquor servers will increase to $9.00 effective May 1, 2012.
New Brunswick
Effective April 1 2012, the minimum wage will increase to $10.00 per hour up from the current rate of $9.50.
Nova Scotia
Effective April 1 2012, the minimum wage will increase to $10.15 per hour.
The minimum wage for inexperienced workers, with less than three months’ experience in the work for which they were hired, will rise to $9.65.
Future increases will occur in April, indexing the minimum wage to the low-income cut-off, which represents the threshold where people are devoting a significantly larger than average percentage of their income to the basic necessities of food, shelter, and clothing. This will be done based on the national estimated Consumer Price Index from the previous calendar year which is usually released in January.
Prince Edward Island
Effective April 1, 2012, the minimum wage in Prince Edward Island will increase to $10.00 per hour up from the current rate of $9.60 per hour.
Quebec
Effective May 1, 2012, the hourly minimum wage will increase to $9.90 per hour, up from the current level of $9.65 per hour. As well, the minimum wage rate payable to employees receiving tips will increase to $8.55 per hour up from the current rate of $8.35 per hour. As for the rate payable to employees of certain sectors of the clothing industry, it will rise from $9.65 to $9.90 an hour. For strawberry and raspberry pickers, the yield-based rate will increase to $0.77 per kilogram of strawberries and to $2.91 per kilogram of raspberries. In 2014, all farm workers will be entitled to the minimum wage rate.
Finally, the maximum deductions for meals and accommodation will also increase as follows:
● $2 per meal, up to $26 per week;
● $25 per week for a room;
● $30 per week for a dwelling that accommodates five employees or more; and
● $45 per week for a dwelling that accommodates four employees or less.
In addition, new requirements for rooms and dwellings will be introduced on May 1.
A “room” must contain a bed and a chest of drawers for each employee, as well as access to a toilet and a shower or bath. A “dwelling” must have at least one room and must have access to a washer and dryer, a kitchen with a refrigerator, a stove, and a microwave oven.