Essential workers to get pay top-up

Essential service workers in Canada who are making minimum wage, are going to get a raise.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Ottawa is finalizing a deal with the provinces and territories aimed at topping up the wages of those workers that staff places like seniors homes and in health care.

Trudeau said the individual provinces will determine which workers will get the pay hike, and how much it will be.

“We are relying on these workers now more than ever, and we will be there to support them. The bottom line is this: if you’re risking your health to keep this country moving and you’re making minimum wage, you deserve a raise,” Trudeau said at his morning address Thursday

Under media questioning, Trudeau said the federal commitment to the top-up program will be four billion dollars, which he said is three-quarters of the cost, with the provinces providing the rest.