2. Learn how much you’ll be paid
Question & Answer
I came to Canada as a domestic worker. What are my rights?If you're a domestic worker, the rules about minimum wage apply to you. In Ontario, the minimum wage is now $17.20 an hour but changes from time to time.
Your employer can give you part of your in food or a place to live if you eat the food and live in the room. This is sometimes called room and board. They still have to pay you the minimum wage if they do this. But they can count the food and housing costs as some of the money that they owe you.
Here are the amounts they can take from your wages each week.
What you get | What your employer can charge |
Private room | $31.70 a week |
Room you share | Nothing |
Food | $2.55 for each meal and no more than $53.55 a week |
Food and a private room | $85.25 a week |
Food and a room you share | $53.55 a week |
You must have agreed to these charges in your employment contract. And your employer must include these amounts in your pay statement.
Overtime
Ontario's rules about overtime pay apply to you. This means you must be paid 1.5 times your normal hourly rate any time you work more than 44 hours in a week.
For example, if you normally earn $24 an hour and you work one extra hour in a week, you'll get $36 for that extra hour. That's because $24 x 1.5 equals $36.
Your employer does not have to tell you to work extra hours for you to get paid for it. It's enough that they know that you're doing it.
Charging you for hiring or travel
Your employer cannot charge you or take money from your pay to cover the cost of hiring you or getting you to Canada. They have to pay those travel costs.