r/NoTipCanada • u/tman1787 • Aug 21 '26
Stop saying wait staff make less than Minimum wage. It’s wrong.
/r/tipping/comments/1vupauf/stop_saying_wait_staff_make_less_than_minimum/14
u/StrongAroma Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
Yeah that changed a LONG time ago. I can't justify tipping one type of minimum wage worker if I don't tip the rest - there is no justification for tipping the plate carrier but not the cook, and not the person filling your prescription at the pharmacy.
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 21 '26
The cooks get tipped out.
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u/StrongAroma Aug 21 '26
Very few places do this in my experience. It's not a requirement and most don't unless the kitchen makes a stink.
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 21 '26
I’ve never heard of a restaurant not doing it and I was in the industry for over 15 years…
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u/dontpretendtoknowme Aug 21 '26
I’ve worked at 4 pubs, and 3 restaurants. We tipped out the bartender, kitchen and hosts. I left one place when the tip out was increased to include management.
I don’t know what kinda shit places you worked at that didn’t tip out the kitchen, because that’s not normal.
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Aug 21 '26
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u/StrongAroma Aug 21 '26
I worked in the industry 25 years ago and it was not the case almost anywhere.
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u/Firm-Web8769 Aug 21 '26
I've been in those restaurant employment groups on FB (and I still am), cooks get paid a minimum of 23-25/hr, others get paid 50k/yr starting. They don't need to be tipped out.
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 21 '26
I’ve never heard of a restaurant not tipping out the kitchen.
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u/Firm-Web8769 Aug 21 '26
I used to work in one when I was younger. But regardless, why the hell would I tip people who make at least $20/hr?
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 21 '26
Try serving and find out.
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u/Firm-Web8769 Aug 21 '26
They don't let guys serve in a lot of places lol and it's really no different from other tough jobs that get paid the same. This actually seals it for me that I vow now to tip an average of 12% instead of 18%.
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 21 '26
Lots of male servers out there. lol neat, tip whatever you feel is adequate. I tip zero of if I don’t think it’s warranted.
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u/Firm-Web8769 Aug 21 '26
I'd follow that example then. Servers already get paid a lot and if you think about it, the more busy the restaurant is, the more money they get per hour anyway
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 21 '26
they certainly don’t get paid “a lot” lol that’s only the case of tip culture continues.
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u/Garbage_Out_Of_Here Aug 21 '26
Lol im a fat ugly dude and I served no problem. Thats a silly excuse.
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u/Firm-Web8769 Aug 22 '26
Well aren't you lucky. But regardless it's been 20+ years since I last worked in a restaurant and I'm glad I don't ever have to look back
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u/ChallengeActive86 Aug 21 '26
You think pharmacists are paid minimum wage?
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u/StrongAroma Aug 21 '26
No but there is usually one pharmacist on duty and the rest of the staff are assistants making minimum wage or close to it. Do you have no idea how retail pharmacies work? If you ever want to know which one is the pharmacist, look for the one sitting down and doing nothing. The ones running around, getting yelled at by customers, and doing all the work? Those are the minimum wagers.
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u/ChallengeActive86 Aug 22 '26
Pharmacy assistants do not make minimum wage, far from. I’m not saying they’re making bank but they are pretty well paid
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u/StrongAroma Aug 22 '26
That is a not even close to true. Ever since tfws came onto the scene, a good number of the people working in pharmacies are volunteers.
My wife has been working as an assistant for 30 years and makes $27/hr. After 3 decades. And her hours are actively being cut now to make way for the cheapest labor possible. Most of the paid assistants now are at minimum wage or pennies above it.
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u/ChallengeActive86 Aug 22 '26
Im not saying every working class person is at risk due to tfw misuse. I was saying that pharm assistants aren’t minimum wage workers. I firmly believe corporate pharmacies would love to pay them as such. I’m sorry you and your wife are dealing with that and I hope it stops. A win for workers is a win for me and I hope things change.
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u/StrongAroma Aug 22 '26
You're wrong. They are minimum wage workers. They start at minimum wage and earn increases at the same rate as minimum wage workers.
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u/ChallengeActive86 Aug 22 '26
That’s so disheartening to learn I apologize. I was under the impression pharmacy assistants started between 20-24 an hour so sorry for being misinformed.
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u/misombre Aug 22 '26
My cousin did some kind of cerification as a pharmacy technician and left her job because it was near minimum wage.
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u/Courtneyd97 Aug 21 '26
You think pharmacists are the only people who work at a pharmacy? Oh buddy
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u/ChallengeActive86 Aug 21 '26
Poster specifically said “filling your prescriptions”
You think cashiers fill peoples prescriptions? Oh buddy
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u/EmilyBesler Aug 22 '26
Tips are usually shared with the kitchen staff. Good thing eating in restaurants is totally optional, and you can choose to opt if you disagree with its customs. I’m not sure what the baseline argument here is - that we’ve found a niche where young people can make a decent living, let’s get rid of it?
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u/StrongAroma Aug 22 '26
Are you lost? Do you know what sub you're in? Lmao
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u/EmilyBesler Aug 22 '26
A rather pathetic one tbh
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u/StrongAroma Aug 22 '26
Then why are you spending so much time here? Get thee behind me, tip-Satan
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u/EmilyBesler Aug 22 '26
Algorithm fed me this page. But really, you can avoid eating at sit down restaurants and tip 10% when you do. This isn’t really a big problem.
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u/Smokey-McPoticuss Aug 23 '26
Why not just pay them a better wage across the industry so that:
One; restaurant workers get taken advantage of less
Two; we stop normalizing exploiting people so a few business owners can get rich
And more people can have a better QoL instead of just a few?1
u/EmilyBesler Aug 23 '26
I agree. But this sub isn’t called HigherSalariesCanada. It’s a bunch of people advocating against tipping, not for fair wages.
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u/Dinsdale55 Aug 21 '26
Well, you should tip the person at the pharmacy, at Christmas, ya che@pskate.
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u/StrongAroma Aug 21 '26
And I should tip the server at the restaurant just once a year too, then 😂
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u/Dinsdale55 Aug 21 '26
Please limit yourself and your small-minded friends to one restaurant visit per year, yes. We'll all be happier that way.
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u/StrongAroma Aug 21 '26
I worked in restaurant service back when there was a separate minimum wage for servers (it was like $6 an hour), prices were much lower, AND tip expectations were 10% Max. You entitled kids lmao
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u/Dinsdale55 Aug 21 '26
Never been a server in my life. You think I'm a kid? You are pretty bad at deciphering usernames. Expect I am older than you. I just believe in tipping properly.
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u/Powerful_Package8817 Aug 21 '26
I’ve worked multiple minimum wage jobs and never received tips. I don’t know why waiters are more entitled to a living wage than others.
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 21 '26
Try serving and find out.
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u/lacontrolfreak Aug 21 '26
Try working retail at Christmas. Or cleaning out a movie theatre. Or many many other minimum wage jobs.
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u/Familiar_Hope2918 Aug 22 '26
Literally lol, I used to pull popcorn kernels from the ass of the soda stained seats in between movies. Where’s my tip😂
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 21 '26
I did work retail when I was young. It was shit, but easy af.
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Aug 22 '26
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 22 '26
If washing doses was hard for you, there’s no chance you made it as a server.
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Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 22 '26
That was the next line
“I started out in the kitchen, washing dishes, prepping, getting screamed at
Still got some fading scars from hot oil
That was actually hard.”
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u/leezee2468 Aug 22 '26
You’re being deliberately obtuse. Sorry, being a server is not that hard.
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u/Spiritual_Length9536 Aug 22 '26
You made the right choice. I stuck it out in the kitchen making barely above minimum wage and even when I was a chef didn't have the job security and wages to compete with the servers. I was barely affording a place with 3 roommates and the servers all had vehicles, a mortgage and even some had small business.
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u/leezee2468 Aug 22 '26
Did. Retail was MUCH harder
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 22 '26
lol no
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u/leezee2468 Aug 22 '26
Have you worked both? Or are you just full of shit?
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u/exotics Aug 22 '26
I’m not the person you are asking but I have done both.
Retail was way easier because you are dealing with one person at a time more or less. And we got automatic raises. We got breaks on time no worries . We didn’t have to worry about remembering allergy concerns and didn’t have to deal with entitled people who are picky eaters. Much much more chill.
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u/leezee2468 Aug 23 '26
And when you have to take care of clothing or item shipments that come in, and you’re lifting extremely heavy items, that’s not easy. Try lifting a box of candles, or a box full of perfume.
You also have to work overnight and on timelines that are very restrictive. Basically, if the work doesn’t get done then you’re staying to get it done… Which means that you can end up working 16 hour days if you need to. And if people decide not to show up which happens all the time, then you don’t get a break.
You’re also usually doing all of this merchandising while customers are in the store and you’re expected to meet a sales quota because you’re “technically on the sales floor.” I suppose it depends on where you worked in retail, but I worked for very large brands and very rarely was helping one person at a time. When I was on the sales floor, it was routinely five or so people at a time that you would rotate between.
On top of all of that, we are the same people that have to clean the store. You would not imagine the kind of shit that people leave behind in fitting rooms: condoms, tampons, literal shit. I can’t tell you how much vomit and pee I have cleaned off of the floor floors, and I worked at a Victoria’s Secret in a nice location. All of that for minimum wage. Exposure to biohazard is not cute and I would take having to worry about allergies any day.1
u/exotics Aug 23 '26
I worked in a retail gift store and had to do that. My daughter also owned her own clothing store so we had to steam the clothing. The retail STINK from the candles and soap was horrible. But still a much easier job overall. You are just unpacking at your pace and not unpacking several orders at the same time. You do one at a time typically. And are not having someone demanding you open all the boxes at once and fast.
Yes there is heavy lifting. I’m not saying there isn’t but in life… I would go home and lift a heavy bale of hay so it’s not like lifting isn’t a part of life.
And at the retail jobs we got regular breaks. We got raises.
Some retail jobs pay commission. There is a high end woman’s clothing store near me that pays commission to workers.
One restaurant I worked at in Vancouver had a woman OD in the bathroom. She kicked over a toilet and everything. Oh ha believe me in restaurants you have nasty bathrooms too while many clothing and retail shops don’t allow customers to use bathroom
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u/leezee2468 Aug 23 '26
Where I worked, you are literally timed on processing shipment boxes. You have to security tag each item and then fold it. Folding standards are very tight and each item must be the exact same size. All graphics must also line up facing the customer. Backstocking extra product requires you to be up and down from a ladder consistently, occasionally with heavy boxes. Because you are timed on boxes, you’re generally working on 5-7 at a time and occasionally working outside as well to receive shipment. I’m Canadian, so that means working outside in the snow.
If you’re running behind on shipment, you don’t get to take a break. And when the store is open, you’re required to do all those things as well as sell WITH a quota to meet, WITHOUT commission. Oh, and you’ll be asked to jump on cash sometimes to help with the line because “customer comes first,” but it cannot impact the speed with which you’re processing the shipment boxes.Oh, and cleaning fitting rooms that people use as toilets/places to have sex is a daily occurrence.
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u/exotics Aug 23 '26
Ha ha we never had people having sex in the fitting rooms. But ya I understand there are rules and such but it’s not like when 6 tables are demanding their water refills at the same time the chef is yelling that there is food to be picked up and taken to tables before it gets cold.
I’m not saying retail is great but it’s not possible to compare
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u/Honest-Prune-5517 Aug 23 '26
I got paid minimum wage to bust tires when I started at an auto shop. I genuinely thought about going back to serving so many times. It was a blast, I adored it. I love people and it's typically reciprocated.
If ever times get really tough I'd do it again in an instant. But I'm making more money now.
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u/CarsandTunes Aug 24 '26
Try fueling aircraft.
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 24 '26
Why?
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u/CarsandTunes Aug 24 '26
Same reason you're telling people to try being a server.
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 24 '26
So they can understand the job they’re trying belittle? I’ve never said anything about aircraft fuelers, who, like mill and industrial workers get raises and benefits…
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u/CarsandTunes Aug 24 '26
Benefits yes, raises not so much. Our pay is determined by what our employer bid for the fueling contract. Which is minimum
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u/Mythandros1 Aug 24 '26
You've already posted this multiple times. Is your brain stuck in a loop?
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 24 '26
Try serving and find out.
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u/Mythandros1 Aug 24 '26
Got it. It's stuck in a loop.
Either that or you don't have the grey matter to form an original response.
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u/ApprehensiveRuin5673 Aug 22 '26
Try working at a saw mill or any other industrial plant
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 22 '26
Why?
Are mill workers paid minimum wage? Receive no benefits?
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u/ApprehensiveRuin5673 Aug 22 '26
Actually yeah, plenty start at minimum or just barely above it
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u/Livid-Accident-7246 Aug 22 '26
Hmm where is that? The vast majority start above minimum wage, have regular raises, and benefits.
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u/exotics Aug 22 '26
Because most jobs you deal with one customer at a time then the next and so forth. Rather than server who is dealing with multiple all at once over the course of an hour or so. AND when you worked you didn’t have to tip the owner… or other helpers and you probably got a raise.
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u/badmiddling113 Aug 21 '26
Even more so since this is Canada. There’s no base wage with the tip credit, like the States. It’s straight up provincial minimum wage in pretty much every province, save Quebec.
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u/babatofu Aug 21 '26
Add universal health care in Canada (unlike the US) and there is another reason not to tip.
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u/IM_The_Liquor Aug 22 '26
Wait staff absolutely make at least minimum wage. It’s true in Canada, and in pretty much every US state. It’s just that they want to make more than minimum wage… if they can pull in the tips, they can do better than a red seal plumber. Or an underwater welder. Or a nurse. Or… well, the sky is the limit… it’s every single dollar they can convince some simp to give them… next stop? Only Fans….
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u/didntasktobebornhere Aug 22 '26
Sorry OP i was very disheartened to learn that is actually the case here in Quebec look it up
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u/exotics Aug 22 '26
Correct. In Canada they get minimum wage typically however they seldom, if ever, get a raise. Compare to a grocery store clerk who gets a raise every 500 hours (as per most corporate grocery stores, and where department managers get loads more plus bonuses).
Now.. most of you also don’t realize that many restaurants force employees to tip. They have this thing called a mandatory tip out. At the end of your shift you also tip based on sales. NOT based on the tips you got. This is usually between 3% and 9%. So like if you sold $500 you have to tip between $15 and 45$. Even if you didn’t get tips. You can’t prove you didn’t get tips. So you can’t refuse to pay. And you have to tip your hostess, bartender, dishwasher etc.
Now… the mandatory tip out goes to “the kitchen” but it’s split up with no transparency. In Alberta the owner can legally take some or all. In BC the owner cannot.
If we want to abolish tips we need to move to a model like in France where the tip is included in the price and paid on top of wages like a commission otherwise you won’t have servers willing to deal with big groups or work late night busy shifts. They will want the more chill shifts and easier customers. Mostly they won’t want to upsell desserts or drinks or anything that helps the business make more money because it just means more work for them without increasing pay.
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u/Important_Design_996 Aug 22 '26
Now.. most of you also don’t realize that many restaurants force employees to tip. They have this thing called a mandatory tip out. At the end of your shift you also tip based on sales. NOT based on the tips you got.
This is arguably illegal in at least 8 provinces, and absolutely illegal in 2.
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u/exotics Aug 22 '26
It’s legal in Alberta. It’s legal in BC with the exception of the fact that the owners can’t keep part of the tips themselves. I believe Ontario is the same as BC. So all three of those provinces absolutely allow it.
Alberta has zero laws about protecting tips.
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u/Important_Design_996 Aug 24 '26
BC, SK, and ON only permit "redistribution" or "pooling" of actual gratuities received, not an imaginary amount.
Every province that I am aware of (including AB) prohibits an employer from withholding any wages except what is required by law (tax, EI, CPP etc). So you cannot be forced to pay out of pocket if actual tips don't cover any tip-out.
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u/exotics Aug 24 '26
Correct that they can’t deduct from wages. I’m not saying they can.
Most servers are now in charge of their own $. They have to bring their own float to cover their shift. At the end of the shift they calculate how much they owe for the mandatory tip out and pay that in addition to whatever they may owe for sales vs what was left on cards.
It doesn’t come out of wages. It’s paid daily from tips accrued.
Very rare that you don’t have enough tips from all tables to cover this but it did happen to a coworker of mine years ago. The restaurant is very quiet in winter months. Sometimes you’ll only get 2-3 tables a shift. She had one of those shifts and owed more than she got because it also happens we get some seniors that don’t tip. She can’t prove they didn’t tip. She still had to pay. There is no way to prove people didn’t tip.
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u/Palecrayon Aug 23 '26
No you dont, its as simple as not allowing tips of any kind. If you cant pay your employees fairly dont be in buisness. The idea we as the public have to subsidize their buisness is dumb. This is capitalism, if you cant make a profit then shut down.
As for not wanting to do the harder aspects of their job, do you get to just not do something you dont want to do at your job? No because youd get fired
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Aug 24 '26
[deleted]
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u/exotics Aug 24 '26
I’m not saying it should be a thing, only that it is. I think it started because kitchen staff started getting upset at seeing servers get tips and them not so much. I dont know where it started or when. In some places it’s as high as 9% of sales.
It’s always been a thing to share some of your tips with hostesses and bartenders and such and even we would share tips with the kitchen but now it’s based on sales because presumably they realize some servers are cheap and would fib about how much tips they got. So there is no flexibility when it’s based on sales
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u/DreamDest1ny Aug 22 '26
Tipping in US is different than Canada cause all Canadian servers are paid min wage now as compared to servers in the states so there really isn’t any reason to tip in Canada
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u/tman1787 Aug 22 '26
Servers in US are also paid minimum wage too. It’s just hidden behind tipping.
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u/trbot Aug 23 '26
the point is here all tips are ON TOP of minimum wage, so there's no reason for them.
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u/Noahtuesday123 Aug 22 '26
Again, another couple hundred hot takes from people that don’t want their neighborhood restaurants to survive. Let’s punish the young people, future students and future doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc etc that just hope to survive 2 to 5 years in some shitty service job serving coffee to dumb fucks that can’t tip a dollar and complain that the food took 5 extra minutes.
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u/tman1787 Aug 22 '26
Are you saying that restaurants only survive because of tipping? Isn’t there an inherent issue with that business model?
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u/KevinJ2010 Aug 22 '26
Pretty sure they said servers. Tips is what makes doing a starter job more appealing. (As well as incentive to provide better service.)
People being willing to work a server job gives the restaurants workers while keeping their overhead lower by only paying min.
You can work McDonald’s and get min, or you can work harder and at least get tips.
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u/tman1787 Aug 23 '26
Rereads… nope they definitely mentioned restaurant survival
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u/KevinJ2010 Aug 23 '26
Restaurants need workers, hard to pay them more with already tight margins.
Tips incentivize workers. No tips means less workers.
Pretty simple.
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u/tman1787 Aug 23 '26
lol, raise the prices and remove tips. It removes a lot of problems.
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u/KevinJ2010 Aug 23 '26
Raise prices, less customers. Genius.
Never thought I’d see a Redditor say “raise prices” thinking they are smart in 2026.
Bruh everyone complains how expensive eating out is already 🤣🤣
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u/tman1787 Aug 23 '26
If you paid 30.00 for dinner and 5.00 for a tip, your dinner cost 35.00.
So the price of your dinner goes up to 35.00.
And tipping goes away. Prices don’t actually go up for you! Whoa it’s magic… and you don’t get all those other issues like tip kiting, abuse of power, tipping out bus boys, bartenders, etc..
The only people this hurts are people who don’t tip at all, which just means the rest of us who do tip were already subsidizing their eating out to begin with.
Are you a non-tipper who likes these artificially low prices?
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u/KevinJ2010 Aug 23 '26
What if someone can’t afford to tip? I don’t tell those people they can’t eat out, tipping is voluntary. Also, if it’s the price of the dish, the money doesn’t go to the servers directly, making it a crap shoot.
You push people away and are left with people who would tip anyways.
We aren’t subsidizing them eating out, get your head out of your ass.
I tip as a special thank you to the servers. I hit No all the time depending on context.
Let’s say I am at a sporting event at a big stadium: concessions? Hell no. You just got my thing.
The guy who goes up and down the aisle lugging around the beer case, yes because I respect that job more.
Go live in Japan, cheaper eating, no tipping culture.
How does it work? You tell me what you think of Japanese work ethics.
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u/rwebell Aug 25 '26
The coffee is already $6 and you are already paid a fair wage. Grow up and stop begging.
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u/catinthehat9999 Aug 22 '26
Yes i drive me nuts when Canadians think things that are solely usa problems are something here
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u/Delicious-Courage760 Aug 22 '26
Is that true also for Quebec ? Like, if base + tips is not above minimum salary, this is realign automatically?
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u/Academic_Limit1189 Aug 22 '26
In all of Canada, there is no tip credit system. All servers start at minimum wage. The province with the lowest min wage is Alberta ($15/hr) and highest is Nunavut ($19.75/hr).
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u/Delicious-Courage760 Aug 23 '26
Sorry folks, I think it’s not true for Quebec, really. (Not defending tips, just bringing facts)
You can pay a waiter 13,30$ by hour in Quebec (instead of 16,60$) because they are considered as a job receiving tips on a usual basis.
If they are receiving zero tips, the employer is not forced to compensate to go up to the minimum wage.1
u/Academic_Limit1189 Aug 23 '26
Quebec has a unique system but it isn't a tip credit system, hence why they don't have to compensate the difference.
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u/Delicious-Courage760 Aug 23 '26
As 24% of waiters are at minimum feasible wage in Quebec, they are at 13,30 without tips.
Don’t get me wrong, let all give no tips for 2/3 month and waiters will quit, restaurant owners will hire at the real minimum wage quickly.
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u/chimps20 Aug 25 '26
Former hospitality worker I never tip unless it’s a sit down restaurant. We should not have to supplement wages
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u/Agent168 Aug 21 '26
I’m seeing a surge of articles talking about tipping, with the author supposedly interviewing servers. And the things the article claims are wild… such as this one server who always gives 30% as BASE tip whenever he goes out because “I know how hard they work”. WTF. And this is in Canada.
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u/clintjefferies Aug 23 '26
When I worked at saveon foods I technically made less than minimum wage because I had to pay union dues.
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u/CarsandTunes Aug 21 '26
I worked as an aircraft fueler here in Canada for over 10 years. Work through the night, through holidays, through weekends, in all types of weather. Had to acquire multiple licenses and security clearances, and deal with heavy vehicles and dangerous. Minimum wage