The minimum legal wage paid to close to 11 per cent of all workers in Ontario rose by 25 cents on Thursday.

The general minimum wage rises to $11.25 an hour, from $11 for minimum wage workers excluding certain students and liquor servers, whose wages are also rising.

Students, defined as employees in school under the age of 18 who work less than 28 hours per week while school is in session, will be paid $10.55 an hour, up from $10.30 an hour.

Liquor servers will now be paid $9.80 per hour, up from $9.55 per hour.

A panel convened by the Ontario government in 2013 recommended that the minimum wage rise each year by a percentage equal to the change in the consumer price index.

Statistics Canada said 10.9 per cent of workers in Ontario earned the minimum wage in 2014, compared to an average of 7.3 per cent of workers in the rest of Canada.