Increase federal airport minimum wage
Petitioners ask Transport Canada, working with Employment and Social Development Canada, to set a higher federal minimum wage for federally regulated airport workers, calculated from each airport's regional living wage. The government responds that it set a federal minimum wage indexed annually and that federally regulated employees receive the higher applicable rate.
Why we would sign this petition
- It would raise pay to a living wage so airport workers can cover shelter, food and essentials and reduce the need to hold multiple jobs.
- It uses federal authority over airports to create a consistent minimum for federally regulated aviation and terminal workers.
- Basing pay on regional living wages aligns wages with local costs and reduces regional pay disparities.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Mandating higher wages would raise employers' labour costs, which could be passed to consumers or reduce hiring.
- Some employers might respond by outsourcing, automating or cutting hours, risking job losses or reduced schedules.
- Defining and updating region-specific living wages adds administrative complexity and could overlap with provincial minimum-wage systems.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Government of Canada Airport workers face increasingly precarious working conditions, many of which earn low wages despite years of service and are working two or more jobs to cover basic needs; A living wage has been defined as earnings that allow a worker to afford shelter, food, extended healthcare, childcare, transportation and other necessities; The Vancouver International Airport Authority has declared itself a living wage employer and has encouraged all its service providers to provide a living wage to its employees; The Greater Toronto Airport Authority issued the Pearson Standard document in June 2023, stating in its employment standards section that all airport employers are encouraged to provide wages that allow workers the ability to afford shelter, food and the necessities; Airport workers earn a variety of wages, from minimum wages and up, often dependant on whether their employer is an airline, a government contract, an airline service provider, an airport authority employer or an airport authority service provider; and The federal government has jurisdiction over federal industries and workplaces such as airports, broadcasting, railways, ports, telecommunications, and banking. We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to direct Transport Canada to work with Employment and Social Development Canada to establish a higher federal minimum wage for airport workers employed in aviation operations or terminal operations under federal jurisdiction, to be calculated based on a living wage for the region in which the airport is located.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario Signed by Annie Koutrakis The Government of Canada thanks the undersigned for their proposal that the federal minimum wage for federally regulated airport workers be calculated based on a living wage for the region in which the airport is located. Good quality jobs are a driver of a strong economy. This is why, in 2021, the Government moved forward with amending Part III (labour standards) of the Canada Labour Code (Code) to introduce a federal minimum wage of at least $15 per hour. The changes also provided that the federal minimum wage be adjusted annually on April 1 based on Canada’s annual average Consumer Price Index compared to that of the previous calendar year. This automatic annual adjustment ensures that the remuneration of minimum wage workers in federally regulated private sectors is keeping pace with year-over-year cost of living increases. As a result, the federal minimum wage has steadily increased from $15.00 in 2021 to $17.75 in 2025, one of the highest rates among all Canadian jurisdictions. Federally regulated employees who work in a jurisdiction where the provincial or territorial minimum wage exceeds the federal rate are entitled to the higher of the two rates. A freestanding federal minimum wage that is adjusted annually was recommended by the Expert Panel on Modern Federal Labour Standards in 2019. This proposal aligned with other recent changes made to the Code that ensure employees in the federally regulated private sector, such as most airport employees, have access to a robust and modern set of labour standards. For example, in 2021, the Government extended the equal remuneration protection under Part I (Industrial Relations) of the Code to more employees in the federally regulated air transportation sector working at airports to ensure that employees affected by contract retendering are not paid less than what was provided for under the previous collective agreement if they undertake the same or substantially similar work. This change built on amendments made in 2019 to Part III of the Code to ensure that employees whose employer changes due to contract re-tendering do not lose certain rights and entitlements provided under Part III that are based on an employee who has completed a certain period of continuous employment with the same employer (e.g., additional weeks of annual vacation, 12 months to access severance pay). These changes were made, in part, in recognition of the vital role played by Canadians working at airports across the country. The Government thanks the petitioners for their engagement on this shared goal of improving working conditions of Canadian workers.