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HomeStratford NewsMinimum wage going up in Ontario

Minimum wage going up in Ontario

The minimum wage is heading up in Ontario by 75 cents.

The province`s working poor will now earn $11 an hour starting June 1st.

Premier Kathleen Wynne also announced this morning that the government would index the minimum wage to inflation.

Anti-poverty critics are not impressed.

The minimum wage has been frozen since 2010 at $10.25 an hour.

Elizabeth Anderson is the Community Action Coordinator at the Local Community Food Centre in Stratford.

She says a full time minimum wage worker will still end up below the poverty line even after today`s announcement.

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Anderson says food banks have seen a huge jump in the number of working people relying on their services.

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She says the rest of society will end up paying for substandard wages through social programs.

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Anderson encourages minimum wage workers to fight for better wages.

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Anti-poverty groups wanted to see the minimum wage boosted to $14 an hour which would place a full time worker ten percent above the poverty line and then have it indexed to inflation.

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