The lowest-paid workers in Canada apparently earn one of the best minimum wages in the world, according to a new ranking.
U.K. payroll company Moorepay released a report on Monday comparing the value of minimum wage rates across different countries.
“An annual minimum wage in countries such as The Gambia and Syria is similar to the weekly minimum wage in countries such as Iceland and the United Kingdom,” reads the report. “However, the cost of living in these countries is vastly different.”
To find a more accurate value of minimum wages around the world, Moorepay converted each country’s minimum annual salary into international dollars using World Bank Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).
This method shows “the comparable amount of goods and services a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States,” which the report says offers a fair comparison of how much wages are truly worth across countries.
Canada performed well, ranking among the top 10 countries with a high minimum wage. It placed 10th globally, with an annual minimum salary of C$36,920 or Intl$32,322. Moorepay based these numbers on Canada’s latest federal minimum wage rate, which increased to $17.75 earlier this year.
The report doesn’t take into account provincial minimum wages, some of which increased in May and are set to rise in October.
The countries that took the top three spots were the Netherlands (annual minimum salary of Intl$38,810), Australia (Intl$37,895), and Luxembourg (Intl$37,198).
Our neighbours to the south didn’t do so well in the ranking, placing 23rd globally with an annual minimum salary of just Intl$15,080 based on the US$7.25 hourly minimum wage.
Countries with the lowest minimum wage rates include Sierra Leone (annual minimum salary of Intl$2,002), the Central African Republic (Intl$1,759), Ghana (Intl$1,285), Uganda (Intl$1,285), and The Gambia (Intl$778).
The report notes that, although some countries are performing better than others when it comes to minimum wage, critics argue that the high cost of living isn’t enough for the lowest-paid workers to cover their basic needs.
According to Amnesty International, there is no country with a living wage that meets the International Labour Organization’s principles, and the debate over minimum wages is “dominated by the interests of the most wealthy and powerful in society.”
Living wage advocates in Canada echo this argument.
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