The minimum wage in Quebec is $16.60 an hour, in force since May 1, 2026. Employees who usually receive tips have a lower minimum of $13.30 an hour, and for most staff every hour past 40 in a week earns a 50% overtime premium.
Those figures come straight from Quebec's Regulation respecting labour standards, which notes that its amounts were indexed as of 1 May 2026 following a notice in the Gazette officielle du Québec of 18 April 2026. Below is what each rate means for an employer, plus the rules around call-ins, tips and meals that trip up small businesses most often.
Quebec's minimum wage rates, as of October 2026
| Who it applies to | Minimum rate | Where it's set |
|---|---|---|
| Most employees (general rate) | $16.60 an hour | Regulation, section 3 |
| Employees who receive gratuities or tips | $13.30 an hour | Regulation, section 4 |
| Raspberry pickers (non-mechanized, whole pay period) | $4.93 per kilogram | Regulation, section 4.1 |
| Strawberry pickers (non-mechanized, whole pay period) | $1.32 per kilogram | Regulation, section 4.1 |
The berry rates come with a safety net people rarely notice: if poor field or fruit conditions beyond the picker's control drag their hourly earnings down, they can't earn less than the general $16.60 rate for those hours.
Who gets the $13.30 tipped rate
The lower rate is only for an employee who ordinarily receives gratuities or tips and works in one of the places the regulation lists: tourist lodging including campgrounds, bars and other places serving alcohol on the premises, businesses that sell or deliver meals to eat elsewhere, and restaurants, but not counter-service places where customers order and pay before eating. It isn't a discount any employer can apply. And Quebec's labour standards law is strict about what happens to the tips themselves.
- A tip paid by a customer belongs to the employee who gave the service and can't be mixed in with the wages owed.
- The employer must pay at least the prescribed minimum wage without counting tips towards it.
- Any tip the employer collects, for example on a card payment, must be handed over in full.
- Service charges added to the bill count as tips. Administrative costs added to the bill don't.
- The employer can't impose a tip-sharing arrangement or interfere in setting one up. Any sharing has to come from the employees' own free and voluntary consent.
That last point surprises owners who've worked in other provinces. In Quebec, a manager can't simply announce that the kitchen gets a cut of the floor's tips.
The three-hour call-in rule
Section 58 of the Act respecting labour standards protects anyone who turns up and is sent home early. If an employee reports for work at the employer's express request, or in the regular course of their job, and works fewer than three consecutive hours, they're owed an indemnity equal to three hours' wages at their prevailing hourly rate. The only exception is superior force, meaning events outside the employer's control.
Notice it's three hours at the employee's own rate, not at the minimum wage. A supervisor on a higher hourly rate who's called in for an hour is owed three hours at that higher rate.
Overtime in Quebec: 40 hours, then 50% more
For overtime purposes, Quebec's regular workweek is 40 hours, unless a regulation sets a different week for a particular job. Work beyond the regular week carries a premium of 50% of the prevailing hourly wage, so time and a half. Premiums already calculated on an hourly basis are left out of that calculation.
The Act also lets the employer replace overtime pay with paid leave equal to the overtime worked plus 50%, either when the employee asks for it or where a collective agreement or decree provides for it. Some jobs have a longer standard week set in the regulation:
| Type of work | Standard workweek |
|---|---|
| Most employees | 40 hours |
| Watchman for a surveillance service enterprise | 44 hours |
| Any other watchman | 60 hours |
| Forestry operations and sawmills | 47 hours |
| Work in a remote area | 55 hours |
Meals and accommodation you can charge for
If an employee's working conditions mean you must provide meals or a place to stay, the regulation caps what you can charge them:
| Item | Maximum charge, as of October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Meals | $2.73 a meal, up to $35.69 a week |
| A room | $34.32 a week |
| A dwelling, 4 employees or fewer per room | $61.75 a week |
| A dwelling, 5 or more employees per room | $41.19 a week |
These amounts rise with each increase in the general minimum wage, but never by more than the Consumer Price Index, and you can't charge extra for things like access to an additional room.
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Breaks, rest days, pay sheets and vacation pay
- Give a 30-minute meal break, which can be unpaid, for every five consecutive hours of work, unless a collective agreement or decree says otherwise.
- Allow a weekly rest period of at least 32 consecutive hours.
- Hand over a pay sheet with the wages that gives the employee enough detail to check how their pay was worked out.
- Pay the annual leave indemnity: 4% of gross wages in the reference year for most employees, and 6% for those covered by the longer-service rule.
How Quebec compares
Quebec sits in the middle of the national table. The federal rate applies to federally regulated work such as banking, telecommunications and interprovincial transport, and when a province's rate is higher, the employer pays the higher one.
| Jurisdiction | Rate | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| Quebec | $16.60 | 1 May 2026 |
| Ontario | $17.95 | 1 October 2026 |
| New Brunswick | $15.90 | 1 April 2026 |
| Federal | $18.15 | 1 April 2026 |
For every province on one page, see the minimum wage in Canada guide, and if you also employ people next door, the Ontario minimum wage rules work differently.
My verdict
If you run a restaurant or bar in Quebec, the $13.30 rate is the easy part. The tip rules are where businesses get caught: you can't count tips towards the minimum, you can't skim card tips and you can't dictate a tip pool. Get those right, pay the three-hour minimum when you send people home, and you've covered the complaints Quebec employers see most.
Next door in the Maritimes, our New Brunswick minimum wage guide explains the rate and how it rises.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum wage in Quebec?
The general minimum wage in Quebec is $16.60 an hour, in force since May 1, 2026.
What is the minimum wage for tipped employees in Quebec?
Employees who ordinarily receive gratuities or tips have a minimum wage of $13.30 an hour, and the employer must pay it without counting tips towards it.
Can a Quebec employer make staff share tips?
No. The employer can't impose a tip-sharing arrangement or interfere in setting one up. Any arrangement must come from the free and voluntary consent of the employees entitled to the tips.
When does overtime start in Quebec?
For most employees, after 40 hours in a week. Overtime carries a premium of 50% of the prevailing hourly wage, or paid leave equal to the overtime plus 50% in the cases the law allows.
What happens if I'm sent home early in Quebec?
If you report for work as required and work fewer than three consecutive hours, you're entitled to an indemnity equal to three hours' wages at your prevailing hourly rate, except in a case of superior force.
