Newly sworn-in Premier Christy Clark announced a three-stage minimum-wage hike for British Columbians yesterday – putting an end to 10 years of  $8-an-hour earnings for the province’s lowest-paid workers.

The change is a “reasonable step in putting families first,” Clark said in a release.

Jim Sinclair of the B.C. Federation of Labour said the government was “shamed into change” following the ill-received introduction of the HST.

B.C. currently has the lowest minimum wage in Canada, but by 2012 it will be tied for third-highest with Ontario at $10.25 an hour.

Businesses indicated that they need time to adjust to the new wage and therefore, said Clark, the increase will be brought in gradually over the course of the next year.