B-C's minimum hourly wage is increasing to 17 dollars and 40 cents, up from 16.75.
The Labour Ministry says the 3.9 per cent increase kicks in on Saturday.
It says in a statement that the increase will help about 240-thousand workers in the province who currently earn less than 17.40 an hour.
The B-C government amended the Employment Standards Act in February so future increases to minimum wages happen automatically, based on the previous year's average inflation rate for the province.
A wildfire that has forced thousands out of their homes in the Alberta oilsands hub city of Fort McMurray was held in place Thursday as rain and cooler temperatures swept the area. Alberta Wildfire information officer Christie Tucker said the blaze remained out of control – the only such designated fire in the province – but it did not grow overnight and remained at 200 square kilometres in size.
Police on Vancouver Island have issued a warning after responding to a series of reports about people being struck in the face and neck by teenagers shooting what police describe as "water gel blasters" or soft air guns. The statement from Campbell River R-C-M-P says the teens are driving by and shooting at pedestrians.
BC Ferries is removing a four per cent fuel surcharge from all fares, as it expects a record number of people and vehicles on board its vessels this summer. It says the move set to take effect June 1st will increase affordability for customers.
Three men have been charged after a Vancouver Police investigation into an illicit drug lab that was producing fentanyl and other deadly street drugs. Police say the 14-month investigation targeted a group that was manufacturing and trafficking illicit drugs at various locations throughout the region.
The British Columbia government and social media giants have made what they call a "historic collaboration" for youth safety online. A joint statement from Premier David Eby and representatives of Meta, Google, TikTok, X and Snap Inc., the parent of Snapchat, says they met to help young people stay safe online, one of the most important challenges facing families, government and companies.
Chief Robert Michell says relief isn't the right word to describe his reaction as the search begins for unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school he attended in northern British Columbia. Michell is the chief of Stellat'en First Nation some 160 kilometres west of Prince George, B.C., and a survivor of the Lejac Indian Residential School where a geophysical survey is underway to find children missing since the facility closed in 1976.