A $15 minimum wage – and beyond

Is a $15-an-hour minimum wage rate contagious? Labour and anti-poverty activists across Canada certainly hope so.

With Alberta and Ontario both poised to hike their minimum wage rate to $15 in the coming months, workers’ rights advocates in other jurisdictions are pressing for similar wage increases.

British Columbia is one jurisdiction where labour and anti-poverty activists have made headway in their push for $15. The province’s NDP government recently announced that it would raise B.C.’s minimum wage rate — currently at $11.35 an hour — to over $15 by June 2021.

To get there, the rate will gradually rise over the next three years, beginning with an increase to $12.65 on June 1. It will go to $13.85 on June 1, 2019, $14.60 on June 1, 2020, and $15.20 on June 1, 2021.

“We are taking a balanced approach that will work better for everyone, by bringing in measured and predictable increases over time,” said Labour Minister Harry Bains.

The changes come from recommendations by the province’s Fair Wages Commission, which Bains appointed last fall. During consultations, the commission heard a variety of views on how to implement a $15 minimum wage.

The BC Federation of Labour recommended a two-step approach, with rises to $14 on July 1 and $15 next January.

“We believe that an implementation plan with fewer steps is better for workers and employers. A multi-step approach is harder to implement, leads to higher administrative costs and can lead to more payroll errors. It is also less transparent for workers and more difficult to enforce,” it told the commission.

Other groups calling for a $15 minimum wage had also recommended a shorter timeline to the commission.

The B.C. branch of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives suggested that the government increase the minimum wage to $13 in March, $14 in September, and $15 in March 2019.

“This would represent a similar timeline of minimum wage increases as the BC government implemented in 2011 and will put B.C. on schedule to match Alberta and Ontario by March 2019,” said the centre’s submission to the commission.

The B.C. Employment Standards Coalition suggested that the government raise the rate to $15 before the end of the year. To get there, it suggested a two-step hike, with the rate rising to $13.17 on May 1 and to $15 on Oct. 1.

Some employer representatives say the government is moving too quickly to $15, however.

“When I presented our position to the provincially appointed minimum wage commission, the Surrey Board of Trade asked for two items: a five-year implementation, to give our small businesses time to adjust to increases; and, for all future increases to be indexed to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to ensure stability and certainty,” said Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade.

“Our small businesses, especially those in the service sector, are vulnerable to increasing costs from various sources. I am especially concerned that this may be the straw that breaks some of them,” she said.

Richard Truscott, vice-president, B.C. and Alberta, for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, posted on Twitter that the planned increases were too high.

“Minimum wage to increase 11 per cent in 2018, and another nine per cent in 2019. How is this reasonable? Seventy-five per cent of small biz owners cannot afford to offer their employees annual wage increases above inflation,” he said.

In its report to the government, the commission acknowledged that while there were a variety of views in the business community about a $15 minimum wage, a common concern was that the government not raise the rate too rapidly.

“There were a few employers and employer groups who wanted the minimum wage to increase only with the CPI, meaning that its real value would not increase beyond what it is now,” the report said.

“Some others wanted it to increase by the CPI plus $0.20 per year, which would result in a considerable time to reach $15/hour. In contrast, some employers were living wage employers or were already paying workers at least $15/hour and argued that this was possible to do, even if the employer was a small businessperson,” it said.

“Recommending the minimum wage be slightly above $15/hour in 2021 reflects a compromise between business’ general desire to see the minimum wage rise in a more gradual manner over a number of years and concern on the behalf of workers’ and the labour movement that prolonging the rise to $15 means inflation will erode some of the ‘real’ increase in the minimum wage,” the commission’s report said.

Beyond B.C., workers’ advocates in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are calling on their governments to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The Manitoba Federation of Labour said it wants this to happen over the next three years. The Official Opposition NDP said, if elected, it would raise the rate to $15 by the end of its first term in office.

In Saskatchewan, a group called Fight for 15 has launched a petition calling on the government to raise the minimum wage there to $15 an hour. The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and both candidates running for the leadership of the provincial NDP say they support a $15 rate.

So far, neither province has indicated a willingness to increase minimum wage rates beyond annual indexation adjustments.

Campaigns in other provinces have also so far been unable to convince their provincial governments to adopt a $15 minimum wage.

Despite advocating for $15 since 2015, activists in Quebec failed to get Labour Minister Dominique Vien onside when she announced 2018 minimum wage increases in January.

Vien said the government would raise the minimum wage from $11.25 an hour to $12 on May 1 as part of a plan to gradually raise the rate to 50 per cent of the average provincial hourly wage by 2020.

In the past, she has ruled out a $15 rate, saying the cost of living in Quebec does not warrant it and that such a hike could hurt the economy.

Campaigns are also underway in Atlantic Canada.

Ahead of an election this year, the New Brunswick NDP says it would phase-in a $15 rate over four years if elected to govern.

In Nova Scotia, the NDP has tabled a private member’s bill that would raise the minimum wage to $15 over three years. To date, the Liberal government has ruled out a $15 rate, saying it prefers to take other measures to help reduce poverty, such as lowering taxes and making affordable housing more available.

In Alberta and Ontario, the first two provinces to amend their legislation/regulations to implement a $15 minimum wage, there is some uncertainty about what comes next.

While Ontario law requires the minimum wage to rise to $15 next January, some workers’ rights advocates fear that the gain is not secure with a provincial election coming in June.

Although the governing Liberals and the NDP support a $15 minimum wage, groups such as Fight for $15 and Fairness have expressed concerns that if the Progressive Conservative Party wins the election, it could cancel or delay the wage hike. The organization is calling for its supporters to continue to publicize the need for a $15 minimum wage.

In Alberta, where the NDP government will raise the rate to $15 on Oct. 1, there is less concern about a future government rolling it back. Jason Kenney, the leader of the United Conservative Party, has said that if his party wins next year’s election, it would freeze the minimum wage at $15 until other provinces catch up.

The bigger question in Alberta is what comes next? Alberta does not annually adjust its minimum wage rate to reflect measures such as the consumer price index. There is also no minimum wage board to review the rate regularly.

It is up to the government to decide if the minimum wage should rise and, at this point, it is not considering future changes.

“There are currently no plans to further adjust the minimum wage beyond $15 per hour,” said Robb Aishford, press secretary to Labour Minister Christina Gray.

With some success found, workers’ rights advocates across Canada will likely continue to press for minimum wage changes in 2018 and beyond.