Vancouver/CMEDIA: British Columbia (B.C.)’s reportedly hand-harvested farm workers to see a spike of 2.6% in their Minimum rates on Wed, Dec. 31, 2025.
According to the specification of the Employment Standards Regulation, this increase would be applicable to 15 hand-harvested crops such as peaches, apricots, brussels sprouts, daffodils, mushrooms, apples, beans, blueberries, cherries, grapes, pears, peas, prune plums, raspberries and strawberries.
Each of the 15 hand-harvested crops has its own minimum pay rate.
Farm-worker piece rates in B.C. were increased by 11.5% in January 2019 and 6.9% in December 2024.
Based on B.C.’s average annual inflation rate in 2024, this annual increase is consistent with the 2.6% increase to the general minimum hourly wage that came into effect June 1, 2025.
Following the legislative changes made to the Employment Standards Act in spring 2025, these increases to the general minimum wage for piece rates will come into effect each year on Dec. 31, based on the previous year’s average inflation rate.
B.C.’s farm-worker minimum piece-rate system has been in place since 1981.
