Minimum wage in Quebec will increase to $16.60 an hour on May 1st
Posted January 22, 2026 2:44 pm.
The minimum wage in Quebec will increase from $16.10 to $16.60 per hour on May 1st.
Approximately 258,900 employees are expected to benefit from this 50 cent per hour, or 3.1 per cent, increase in industries such as retail, for example.
For tipped employees, the hourly rate will increase from $12.90 to $13.30 on that date. This also represents a 3.1 per cent increase.
In an interview with The Canadian Press on Thursday, Labour Minister Jean Boulet said he believes this is a good balance between protecting workers against inflation and ensuring the ability of small and medium-sized businesses, which often employ these minimum-wage workers, to pay.
He notes that the 3.1 per cent increase is higher than the inflation forecast by the Ministry of Finance for this period, which is 1.97 per cent.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
