A new Fraser Institute study finds that, despite claims to the contrary, minimum wage increases do little to lower poverty rates and can actually hurt low-income workers. According to the report, there is near unanimity among researchers that higher minimum wages cause employment losses in Canada. According to the Fraser Institute, Minimum wage hikes do a poor job of targeting low-income households. Most people earning a minimum wage belong to households earning higher incomes. In 2019, only 4.6% of full-time employees earned the minimum wage. Most people are in low income because they are unemployed or cannot get more than part-time employment.

The report takes note of Saskatchewan as having had almost no change in the real minimum wage between 1981 and 2019. Ontario, on the other hand, saw an increase of about 50 per cent. The highest minimum wages are in Alberta, Ontario, and British Columbia, ranging between $13 and $15 an hour. Last October, the provincial government raised the minimum wage in Saskatchewan to $11.45.