Since the beginning of the twentieth century the problem of a minimum or "living" wage has been increasingly subjected to the careful scrutiny of public opinion. From the early beginnings of the rational Anti-Sweating Campaign in Great Britain in the "nineties" the question of a legislative wage has came steadily to the force in the field of social legislation. Great Britain, Australia, Hew Zealand, the European democracies and the totalitarian states of Germany and Italy all have core form of minimum wage legislation. The Control and South American republics are also progressing rapidly in this form of social legislation. The United States of America, while restrained somewhat by the confusion of constitutionality, has made substantial advances in this field in the past two years, since the legal procedure has been clarified. Likewise Canada, well to the fore, has had minimum wage legislation for women on its provincial statute books for many years. It is less than five years, however, since the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain ratified, the provincial claims that legislation of this typo for mon us wall as women properly belonged within their jurisdiction. This claim of the provinces for the correct interpretation of the British north America Act was not prompted by sectionalism as is well indicated by the subsequent results. Now, four years after the decision was handed down, eight of the nine Canadian provinces boast of the fact that they have on their statute books minimum wage regulations for men as well as women. The regulations and their administration vary with the requirements of the provinces and it is the purpose of this study to view the background and body of this type of legislation new in farce in Canada and to discuss its merits and the probable consequences. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)