By: Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On October 1, 2025, the minimum wage in Saskatchewan increased to $15.35 per hour.
“By raising the minimum wage, we are continuing to support workers and deliver on our commitment to affordability,” Deputy Premier and Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Minister Jim Reiter said. “Saskatchewan’s low personal tax rates continue to make our province a great place to live, work and raise a family.”
Saskatchewan calculates its minimum wage using an indexation formula, which gives equal weight to changes in the Consumer Price Index and Average Hourly Wage for Saskatchewan. In 2022, the Government of Saskatchewan indicated it would make incremental increases to the minimum wage, which resulted in a 27 percent increase from $11.81 per hour to $15 per hour by 2024. With that commitment having been met, the indexation formula is again in place.
“We know the benefits that increasing the minimum wage will have for employees, but we also want to create a balance for employers,” Reiter said. “Over the next few months, we will be working together with the Chambers of Commerce and other key stakeholders to understand the implications of increasing minimum wage for the business community and the impact on Saskatchewan’s economy.”
Despite the minimum wage increase, it will still fall short of living wages. A living wage is the hourly rate a worker needs to earn to cover basic expenses, such as housing, food, transportation, childcare, and modest savings. Unfortunately, minimum wages often lag behind, leaving many low-wage earners struggling to make ends meet. Workers earning minimum wage often work multiple jobs or rely on social supports to survive, highlighting the gap between policy adjustments and real-world needs.
Critics argue that minimum wage increases, while welcome, when those are tied to inflation metrics like the Consumer Price Index (CPI), they do not fully capture the financial pressures on low-income households. Living wage calculations, by contrast, account for regional cost-of-living differences and family needs, offering a more realistic benchmark. Advocates, including labour unions and anti-poverty groups, are pushing for minimum wages to align closer to living wages to reduce income inequality and improve the quality of life of workers.
Saskatchewan’s minimum wage increase lifts the province one step above Alberta, which retains the title of having the lowest minimum wage in the country. Manitoba’s increase to $16.00 per hour and Saskatchewan’s to $15.35 per hour are still far from living wage benchmarks, which the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives calculate range from $18-$22 per hour in urban areas of these provinces. The disparity stems from rising living costs, particularly housing and groceries, which have outpaced wage adjustments.
The current affordability crisis in Saskatchewan is proving particularly acute for renters. Regina and Saskatoon witnessed some of the highest rent increases in the country over the last year. (https://www.ctvnews.ca/saskatoon/article/saskatoon-and-regina-renters-saw-some-of-the-highest-rate-increases-in-canada-report-finds/) These cost pressures squeeze renters to a greater extent because they often have lower household incomes and allocate more of their income to shelter costs than homeowners.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has calculated that a worker earning the minimum wage in Saskatchewan would need to work one-and-a-half minimum wage jobs to be reasonably able to afford a one-bedroom apartment in either city. The rental wage, which is the hourly wage needed to afford rent while working a standard 40-hour week and spending 30 percent of income on housing, is calculated at $22.72 per hour for Saskatoon. However, the CCPA calculations fail to consider the neighbourhoods in Saskatoon, where an individual making that hourly wage would be able to afford an apartment. An hourly wage of $22.72 based on a 40-hour work week would provide a net monthly income of $2,929.48. Following the CCPA’s calculation formula for a ‘rental wage’, where only 30 percent goes to housing, this equates to $878.85. Apartments in Saskatoon at this price point are most often in neighbourhoods considered unsafe by many.
While many business owners often decry minimum wage hikes and labour groups cheer them, for those earning minimum wage, the extra $0.35 an hour in wages will only result in a $39.07 bump up on their paycheque.