Five provinces raise their wage floors on Thursday, October 1. The minimum wage increase October 2026 takes Ontario to $17.95 an hour, Prince Edward Island to $17.30, Nova Scotia to $17.00, Manitoba to $16.40 and Saskatchewan to $15.70.
The figure attached to almost every roundup of the Ontario change is $728, which is what a 40 hour week gains over a full year at the new rate. It is a gross number and nobody receives it. After CPP, EI, federal tax, Ontario tax and the Ontario Health Premium, an Ontario worker keeps about $501. In 2026 the raise only runs for 13 weeks, so the amount that reaches a bank account this calendar year is closer to $125.
The five rates changing on October 1
| Province | Now | October 1, 2026 | Increase | Gross at 40 hours a week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | $17.60 | $17.95 | $0.35 (2.0%) | $37,336 |
| Prince Edward Island | $17.00 | $17.30 | $0.30 (1.8%) | $35,984 |
| Nova Scotia | $16.75 | $17.00 | $0.25 (1.5%) | $35,360 |
| Manitoba | $16.00 | $16.40 | $0.40 (2.5%) | $34,112 |
| Saskatchewan | $15.35 | $15.70 | $0.35 (2.3%) | $32,656 |
Ontario has the highest rate of the five. Manitoba has the largest percentage move. Nova Scotia’s 25 cents is its second increase of the year, following the step to $16.75 on April 1, and it is the smallest of the group in both dollars and percentage terms.
Ontario’s specialised rates move on the same day. The student rate, which applies to workers under 18 who work 28 hours a week or fewer while school is in session, goes from $16.60 to $16.90. The homeworker rate goes from $19.35 to $19.70. Hunting, fishing and wilderness guides move to $89.75 for a shift under five hours and $179.50 for five hours or more.
One compliance point worth knowing as an employee. The new rate applies to hours worked on or after October 1, not to whichever pay period happens to contain the date. If your pay period straddles October 1, the hours split between the old rate and the new one.
What the minimum wage increase October 2026 is worth after deductions
Take an Ontario worker at 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, with no other income. Gross annual pay goes from $36,608 to $37,336. The difference is $728.
Here is where that $728 goes.
| Deduction | Amount on the $728 |
|---|---|
| CPP at 5.95% | $43.32 |
| EI at 1.63% | $11.87 |
| Federal income tax | $94.19 |
| Ontario income tax | $33.98 |
| Ontario Health Premium | $43.24 |
| Total deducted | $226.60 |
| What you keep | $501.40 |
Thirty one per cent of the raise disappears before it reaches the worker.
The federal figure is not a flat 14 per cent of $728, for two reasons. The enhanced portion of the CPP contribution, one percentage point of the 5.95, is deducted from taxable income rather than credited. The base portion and the EI premium generate non-refundable credits at 14 per cent federally and 5.05 per cent provincially, which claw a little of the tax back. Both effects are built into the CRA’s payroll formulas, and both are why an honest after-deduction number takes more than one multiplication.
At least one widely circulated summary of the Ontario increase told readers to expect roughly $650 to $750 in their pocket after deductions. That range implies a marginal deduction rate somewhere between zero and 11 per cent on employment income well above the basic personal amount. No such rate exists in Ontario. Run the same raise through our payroll calculator at both hourly rates and the gap between gross and net is visible immediately.
The Ontario Health Premium is the line nobody counts
The Ontario Health Premium is a step charge based on taxable income. Above $36,000 and up to $48,000 it is the lesser of $450 and $300 plus 6 per cent of taxable income over $36,000. Between $25,000 and $36,000 it sits flat at $300.
A full time Ontario minimum wage worker lands inside that 6 per cent ramp. Taxable income at $17.60 an hour on a 40 hour week is about $36,277, and at $17.95 it is about $36,998. Both sit above the $36,000 step, so the entire raise attracts the 6 per cent charge on top of income tax, CPP and EI.
That produces a result worth sitting with. Compare the same worker on a 37.5 hour week.
| 37.5 hours a week | 40 hours a week | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross increase | $677.25 | $728.00 |
| Total deductions | $170.58 | $226.60 |
| Net increase | $506.67 | $501.40 |
The 37.5 hour worker gets a smaller raise on paper and keeps more of it. Their taxable income stays under $36,000, where the health premium is flat at $300, so the raise attracts no health premium at all. The 40 hour worker crosses the step and pays 6 per cent on every dollar of it.
Some online calculators treat the Ontario Health Premium as something you settle when you file. It is built into the CRA’s Ontario payroll deductions tables, and Ontario’s own guidance says it is deducted from pay in most cases. If your calculator excludes it, your net pay estimate is too high.
In 2026 you get 13 weeks of it
October 1 to December 31 is 13 weeks. For the Ontario worker on 40 hours, the raise is worth $14.00 a week gross, so about $182 gross for the rest of 2026, and roughly $125 after deductions. That is about $9.60 a week net.
The $728 and the $501 are full year figures. They describe 2027 onward, assuming the worker stays at the minimum and the hours hold. Anyone budgeting on the annual number for this autumn is out by a factor of four.
The same applies elsewhere. Manitoba’s 40 cent increase is worth $16.00 a week gross at 40 hours, so about $208 before deductions across the rest of 2026. Saskatchewan’s is $14.00 a week, PEI’s $12.00, Nova Scotia’s $10.00.
Alberta is now $3.15 below the federal floor
Alberta’s general minimum wage stays at $15.00 an hour, where it has been since October 2018. After October 1 an Alberta worker at 40 hours grosses $31,200 a year against $37,336 in Ontario, a gap of $6,136 before any deduction or provincial tax difference.
The federal minimum wage rose to $18.15 on April 1, 2026, which is higher than every provincial and territorial rate except Nunavut’s $19.75. That federal rate only covers federally regulated employers, meaning banking, telecommunications, broadcasting, postal services and interprovincial transport. If you work for one of those in Alberta, $18.15 applies. Everyone else is on the provincial rate.
British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Yukon and the Northwest Territories all adjust on other dates and have no change scheduled for October 1.
What to check on your first October pay stub
- Confirm the new rate applied to hours worked from October 1, including any hours in a pay period that started in September.
- If you are on the Ontario student rate, check you still meet all three conditions. Under 18, 28 hours a week or fewer, school in session. Once you exceed 28 hours in a school week, the general rate applies to every hour in that pay period.
- Check whether your overtime rate moved with the base rate. Overtime is time and a half of the applicable rate, so $26.93 an hour in Ontario at the new minimum.
- If you are paid by commission or piece rate, your total pay divided by hours worked still has to clear the minimum for every pay period.
- Watch your CPP and EI lines move with the raise. Both are percentages of earnings, so both rise automatically.
Frequently asked questions
How much more will I make after the minimum wage increase in October 2026?
In Ontario, $0.35 an hour, which is $14.00 a week gross at 40 hours and $728 a year gross. After CPP, EI, federal tax, Ontario tax and the Ontario Health Premium, a full time worker keeps about $501 of that in a full year. For the remaining 13 weeks of 2026 the raise is worth about $182 gross and roughly $125 after deductions.
Which provinces are raising the minimum wage on October 1, 2026?
Ontario to $17.95, Prince Edward Island to $17.30, Nova Scotia to $17.00, Manitoba to $16.40 and Saskatchewan to $15.70. Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and the three territories have no change on that date.
Will the minimum wage increase push me into a higher tax bracket?
No. The federal lowest bracket runs to $58,523 in 2026 and Ontario’s lowest bracket runs past $52,000, so a full time minimum wage income of about $37,000 is nowhere near either threshold. What does change for an Ontario worker at 40 hours is the Ontario Health Premium, which is a separate step charge and starts rising again at $36,000 of taxable income.
Does my employer have to pay the new rate straight away?
Yes, for hours worked on or after October 1. Employers cannot wait until the start of the next pay period. If your pay period spans the date, hours before October 1 are paid at the old rate and hours from October 1 at the new one.
What is Alberta’s minimum wage in 2026?
$15.00 an hour, unchanged since October 2018 and the lowest general rate in the country. Alberta has announced no increase. Federally regulated employers in Alberta must still pay the federal minimum of $18.15 an hour.
Do tips count toward the minimum wage?
No. In Ontario the employer has to pay at least the general minimum for every hour worked, and tips sit on top of that. Ontario removed its separate lower rate for liquor servers on January 1, 2022, so serving staff earn the same $17.95 as everyone else from October 1.
To see what any hourly rate works out to across a week, a month or a year, use our salary conversion tool. For net pay at a given annual income by province, see income after tax in Canada.
Sources: Ontario Ministry of Labour minimum wage announcement, April 1, 2026; Government of Saskatchewan news release, June 29, 2026; Manitoba Labour and Immigration news release, April 1, 2026; Nova Scotia minimum wage regulations; PEI Employment Standards Minimum Wage Order; CRA T4032ON Payroll Deductions Tables, Ontario, 2026; CRA CPP contribution rates and EI premium rates for 2026; Canada Employment Insurance Commission 2026 premium rate announcement, September 12, 2025; Ontario Ministry of Finance health premium. Last updated: August 2026.