The minimum wage jumped by 80 cents on Prince Edward Island this week.
The move means the Island now has the highest minimum wage in the Maritimes.
The increase was the first of two planned for 2023. It is set to increase to $15 an hour on Oct. 1.
The increases were announced in September.
“We asked for predictability. We were given predictability. We asked for a runway leading up to those minimum wage changes being made, and they gave us a runway,” said Jim Cormier, Atlantic director of the Retail Council of Canada.
Cormier said that means businesses can plan for the changes they’ll have to make ahead of time.
The minimum wage on Prince Edward Island is now $14.50, in New Brunswick, it’s $13.75, and in Nova Scotia, the minimum hourly wage is $13.60.
The Nova Scotia government has said minimum wage will hit $15 an hour by October 2024.
Though the higher wage means workers will take home more, some businesses are opposed to the move.
The Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce said the organization is concerned.
“We support the provincial government’s desire in ensuring Island employees are properly compensated for their hard work," said Bill DeBlois, chamber president, in an emailed statement.
"However, the size and timing of this increase is unfortunate and will have a large impact on employers that are still struggling with inflation, supply chain delays, and the labour shortage.”
The chamber official said, in a poll of members, 55 per cent of those who responded said the minimum wage increase would "somewhat" or "severely" impact their business, 17 per cent said they’d decrease staffing, and 14 per cent said they’d need to cut hours of operation.
Half said they’d need to increase prices to make up for the extra cost.
Cormier says minimum wage increases often cost more than just the difference in pay for the lowest-paid workers.
“If you have a salary scale, which most of them do, where there’s a percentage increase from your base wage up to the next level, up to the next level for all your wage earning employees, those percentages remain in place,” said Cormier. “That means it’s an increase all the way up through your salary scale.”
