Provinces, territories in Canada to top up wages for essential workers

In this morning’s daily briefing, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that all the provinces and territories have agreed on a cost-sharing strategy to top up wages for essential workers across Canada.

“Today, I am able to announce that we have reached an agreement with all the provinces and territories to top up the wages of essential workers,” Prime Minister Trudeau. “We are finalizing the details with some provinces but I want to point out that this is a joint effort. All the premieres agree: We must support our essential workers. I want to thank them for having shown team spirit in addressing this issue. Now more than ever, we need those workers and we will be there for them. The governments of the provinces and territories will determine which workers will receive the wage top-up. But this is what we are going to do. If you are risking your health in order to get through this crisis, and you were receiving minimum wage, you deserve to earn more.”

More details will follow as each province and territory will determine exactly which workers will receive the wage top-up. The federal investment in this endeavour is reportedly $3-billion, with another billion expected to come from the provinces and territories.

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Provinces and territories in Canada agree to top up wages for essential workers