Minimum wage in Canada: One woman's story
Since moving to Canada from Bangladesh as a refugee in 2002, 33-year-old Acsana Fernando has not been able to earn much more than the minimum wage.
She has worked in restaurants, security and factories. She now works night shifts at group homes where she helps care for physically and mentally disabled residents — employment secured through a temp agency.
"When I came here, I thought any sort of job will help me to reach my goal," she says. "But now I realize it’s not easy. I’m working so hard, and still I am working poor."
Fernando makes $10.25 an hour at the group homes, the minimum wage in Ontario. Her usual monthly take-home pay after taxes is between $1,100 and $1,300, she says. The family gets a small amount of extra money from Fernando’s father’s monthly disability cheque.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/minimum-wage-in-canada-one-woman-s-story-1.2495203
