Wage rates increase

With inflation at its highest rate since the 1980s, a higher cost of living is also inflating the notion of a so-called living wage.

Once pegged at $15 an hour, it’s now $16.75 in the agricultural heartland of the Fraser Valley and $18.49 in the Okanagan.

BC made good on the recommendation of the Fair Wages Commission to raise the base wage all workers receive above $15 an hour last year, and now inflation is pushing it higher once again.

The province announced this week that the minimum wage will rise to $15.65 on June 1, a 2.8% increase over last year. The increase is linked to the province’s inflation rate.

Hand harvesters will see their wages rise by a similar percentage come January 1, 2023. The delay reflects the province’s desire to give farm operations time to prepare for the increase rather than instituting the change mid-season.

Piece rates are paid for the harvesting of 15 commodities in BC, including daffodils, mushrooms, berries and tree fruits.

But the province has yet to make any large-scale changes to the piece rate system, which remains largely unchanged since the province implemented it in 1981.

The province commissioned a report in 2018 designed to give it the data it needed to overhaul the system and ensure workers received proper compensation for their work. According to comments provided to the Fair Wages Commission, the system was exploitative and even racist.

But the report, published in 2019, found 90% of growers supported the existing system. Moreover, while blueberry harvesters were the least likely to receive minimum wage when paid piece rates, these growers would also be hurt most by any increase in their piece rate to match minimum wage.

“We have been taking an in-depth look at how to ensure compensation is fair for farm workers, sustainable for farm operators and economically viable for the industry,” the BC Ministry of Labour told Country Life of BC in a statement, noting that it is in discussions with the agriculture ministry. “By updating the piece rates on these crops, we will ensure that farm workers are paid a fair wage for the valuable work they do. We will have more to share as the Ministry continues its work on the piece rate crops.”

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7 hours ago

Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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4 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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5 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.