Despite an increase in Quebec’s minimum wage, minimum wage earners would have to work beyond 50 hours a week to reach the lower threshold of the viable income range, according to a new report from the Institut de recherche et d’informations socio-économiques (IRIS).
As of May 1, the province’s minimum wage increased 50 cents to $15.75 per hour, but to live a life free of poverty, residents would need to make between $20 and $30 an hour, says the report.
That’s because it takes between $30,738 and $43,609 per year for a single person to live out of poverty in Quebec and varies between $72,788 and $86,585 for a family of four.
