Quebec's minimum wage increases to $11.25 an hour

Quebec's minimum wage hike goes into effect today, with the rate rising by 50 cents to $11.25 an hour.

Approximately 350,600Quebecersmaking minimum wagewill benefit from the increase, which works out to an extra $20 in gross salary in a 40-hour work week.

Workers who make minimum wage with tips will also see a 25-cent salary increase, to $9.45 perhour.

In January, Quebec's Labour Minister DominiqueViensaidtoday's hike will be the first of four annual wage increases, which will bring minimum wage up to $12.45 per hour by 2020.

And while many are still campaigning for the province to raise the minimum wage to $15 anhour, Vien has nixed that idea, saying it would beunrealistic to increase the minimum wage by that much in one shot.

• $15 minimum wage would help women climb out poverty, Quebec activists say

Another May Day tradition, the annual anti-capitalism march in Montreal, is set to begin at 6 p.m. tonight.

Protesters plan to demonstrate in the city's financial district against a system they say encourages "misery and precarity."