NDP looks to raise minimum wage to $18 an hour
By Lethbridge Herald on November 5, 2025.
Alexandra Noad
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Albertans could see a minimum wage increase for the first time in over seven years if the Alberta NDP manages to pass Bill 201, the Protect Workers’ Pay act.
In 2018, minimum wage in Alberta was set at $15 an hour, becoming the highest in the country at the time. Now, seven years later, it’s the lowest with no adjustments being made since the initial change.
Last week, Kathleen Ganley, MLA for Calgary-Mountain View, tabled the bill, which would increase minimum wage by $1 each year for three years, beginning this December, until it reaches $18/hr in Oct. 2027, following which minimum wage would be indexed to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to grow with the cost of living.
Ganley says affordability is among the top concern for Albertans and she believes that the government can improve affordability is by increasing minimum wage.
“We believe that people should be able to get by just working one job, they should be able to afford to live on that basis, and right now that really isn’t the case for minimum wage workers, or honestly a lot of folks and I think the government needs to be doing something about it.”
The bill will also eliminate the minimum wage differential, which allows employers to pay as low as $13 an hour for students and youth under the age of 18. and will introduce tip protection provisions to ensure gratuities go directly to the workers who earn them.
Ganley says wages shouldn’t be solely based on a person’s age, pointing out many youth who are working are often saving for university and some may end up starting university and moving out before they turn 18.
“There was a time, not that long ago, where this also applied to women — their work wasn’t considered as valuable and were allowed to be paid less than men were paid for that work and now we apply it to young people who may or may not be working harder or less hard, but we can’t assume that.”
This is the NDP’s second time introducing tip protection to the Legislature. The original was voted down.
After additional consultation, they designed the bill so restaurants could still create a tipping pool, where employees share a portion of the pot, but prevents managers and owners to take a share of tips, unless they do the same work as other employees.
Ganley says this will protect both the employees and consumers.
A vote is expected to take place Nov. 18. If passed, the first minimum wage increase will take place on Dec. 15.
14-13
Bad idea! When you raise the minimum wage, it causes inflation, it creates an endless cycle of raising the minimum wage, and doesn’t deal with the issues of unaffordability for low wage earners.
When it was raised from about $10 per hour to $15 it appeared to help low wage earners . . . short term, but those who were making $15 per hour wanted to be paid more and those making $20 per hour wanting to earn more and so on. It just doesn’t work!
The price of goods increases because many of the low wage earners work in agricultural jobs like farming, grocery stores, loading docks, gas stations, fast food industry jobs and other jobs which impact the product we purchase in stores, such as groceries.
Every time it increases it always works it’s way up to the higher paid jobs, causing increases in all products we purchase. Also . . . we are now in a global trade era . . . it makes it much harder to compete on the market internationally when the costs to produce the product increase.
It is a never ending cycle which doesn’t achieve the end goal in a long term manner!
There should be other ways to assist low income earners, such as low to no income taxes, free public transit, no GST/PST/HST on all purchases, free dental/prescription/healhcare and/or some form of supports or benefits or aids . . . there are better ways than increasing minimum wages.
Increasing mimimum wage misses a large group of pensioners who do not get those same increases reflected on their pension cheques so when food, rent, gas, utilities, etc., all go up . . . they are in financial trouble and are left behind, suffering in poverty!
Bad idea!!!!