Ontario’s minimum wage went up at the beginning of this month, to $17.20 an hour. And in this week’s local history feature, we check out the minimum wage from 50 years ago.
In October, 1974, a government ad in the Cochrane Northland Post detailed the new rate.
“People employed by agencies as domestics, and people working as funeral directors or embalmers must now be paid not less than $2.25 an hour,” it says. “Learners in General industry must be paid at least $2.15 an hour during their first month of employment and at least $2.25 per hour thereafter.”
The ad goes on with more details, including time-and-a-half after 44 hours work in a week. It also notes that three more paid holidays were being added: New Year’s Day, Victoria Day and Thanksgiving, on top of Good Friday, Dominion Day, Labour Day and Christmas.
The Cochrane Public Library provides its archives for our weekly history feature.
