On January 22, the office of the Labour Minister announced a 50-cent increase in Québec’s hourly minimum wage, which will bring it to $16.60 on May 1, 2026. For workers who earn tips, the minimum rate will increase by 40 cents to a meagre $13.30 an hour. This amounts to a 3.1% increase in both the general wage and the tipped wage. Where does that leave us financially?

It’s true that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.2% in December 2025 compared to December 2024. But a closer look reveals that food prices rose 5.1% and housing costs 5.3% over the same period. Since food and housing account for the lion’s share of workers’ spending, especially for minimum wage earners, the higher minimum wage isn’t enough to live on, much less build a better life.

Is the minimum wage a living wage?

In his press release, the Labour Minister proudly notes that his government has raised the minimum wage substantially since 2019. Is this just a smokescreen or a real leg up for the working class? In April 2025, the Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomiques (IRIS), an independent research institute, published its calculation of a living wage. A living wage is defined as the “hourly wage required to lift a worker out of poverty.” So we are talking about the minimum income needed to pay the bills (to survive) and still have a little left over to handle unexpected expenses (to live). In short, it’s the bare minimum needed to live with dignity.

In the Montréal area, the living wage as of April 2025 was $40,084 for a single person and $52,285 for a single-parent family with one child in daycare. To make that much, a single person working a 40-hour week would have to earn $20.87 per hour and a single-parent would have to earn $27.23 per hour. So, contrary to what the minister says, the minimum wage is not nearly enough to keep a person above the poverty line.

So what’s our takeaway? Once again, the government’s minimum wage hike is designed to please employers, who want to keep their profits for themselves and brandish the threat of job losses if the minimum wage gets too high. That’s a myth that needs to be busted: Studies show that a significant increase in the minimum wage would attract more people to the labour market, stimulating demand for goods and services and thereby boosting overall economic growth. Instead, the minister is offering scraps to keep the working class quiet.

Spiraling inequality

Executive compensation has skyrocketed in recent years. According to the Observatoire québécois des inégalités, the CEOs of Québec’s largest companies make an average of $14.8 million per year, 236 times the average salary. Their compensation includes salary and also various extras, such as cash bonuses and stock options. The same applies in the public sector. The payroll for senior executives at Santé Québec and the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux nearly doubled in the wake of Minister Christian Dubé’s reform. Managers, senior civil servants and university administrators hit the jackpot in 2025 as their salaries surged into the stratosphere.

Meanwhile, the minimum wage for a single person remains at least $4 per hour (25.7%) below the living wage. Growing inequality has serious social consequences. It is therefore essential to demand the kind of wage increase that directly benefits the lowest-paid workers, most of whom are young people and women.

The CCMM’s Right to Work Committee is actively involved in the inter-union Minimum 20$ campaign. Let’s take back what is rightfully ours. Wealth is created by workers. We are entitled to our fair share.

If this struggle resonates with you, the Right to Work Committee will be happy to welcome you aboard.

Solidarity, brothers and sisters!

By Godefroy Borduas, coordinator of the Right to Work Committee – CCMM-CSN

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