The minimum wage for those working in the federally-regulated private sector is rising to $15 dollars an hour as of Wednesday, December 29th.

The federal government estimates some 26,000 federally-regulated private sector employees earn less than $15 dollars an hour.

Most of those employees are in Ontario and Quebec.

Based on estimates, approximately 59 per cent are men and 41 per cent are women.

They include a broad range of industries including banks, courier services, and interprovincial air, rail, road and marine transportation, as well as telecommunications, broadcasting, and postal services.