Manitoba minimum wage to rise to $15.80/hr

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This article was published 13/03/2024 (583 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The confirmation Manitoba’s minimum wage will rise 50 cents per hour, starting Oct. 1, drew mixed reviews from business and labour groups Wednesday.

The hike (to $15.80/hr from $15.30/hr) follows provincial minimum-wage guidelines that tie annual increases to the previous year’s rate of inflation — but leaves it far short of the $19.21/hr advocates say is needed for a living wage in Manitoba.

Meantime, the news was welcomed by employer and business groups that say they’re struggling with rising costs and need to plan ahead.

“The rate that has been announced and confirmed by the premier is consistent with the current legislation that depoliticizes minimum wage — that ties it to economic indicators, such as inflation,” said Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce president Loren Remillard.

“No one should be surprised, and that is why that legislation is effective — because it removes the surprise, it removes the politics. It is a calculation that allows the wage to adjust to the economic realities.”

In 2017, the Progressive Conservative government legislated annual increases to the $11/hr minimum wage be tied to the previous year’s rate of inflation.

Legislation passed by the Tories in 2022 — when Manitoba’s minimum wage was near the bottom of the pack in Canada and inflation was at a 40-year-high — further allowed the government to exceed that posted rate.

Thus, businesses weren’t sure what to expect from the New Democrats (who formed government after the October 2023 election) on the 2024 minimum-wage increase, said Brianna Solberg with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

“Our position has always been that we appreciate a gradual increase and sudden drastic increases are always bad for business owners,” said Solberg. “They need time to react and budget and plan accordingly.

“So the fact that there is a stable, predictable formula — the fact that, in this announcement, they’re giving them until October — that’s good news for businesses.”

At an unrelated news conference in Winnipeg, Premier Wab Kinew defended his government sticking to a 50-cent increase for Oct. 1.

“That’s in keeping with the framework for minimum wage in Manitoba, right now,” the premier said. “We’ll have engagements and conversations with many folks about this, but the main point is the minimum wage is going up to $15.80.”

Kinew said his government “is making a lot of important decisions to help working people in the province.”

As Opposition leader in 2017, Kinew called on the Tory government to raise the minimum to the level of a so-called living wage.

Asked Wednesday if the Manitoba minimum wage should be closer to the $19.21/hr calculated by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the premier said different groups use different measures to arrive at an amount.

“I think it’s important for us to send a message that folks who (work) full-time shouldn’t be living in poverty,” Kinew said.

However, they are, said Molly McCracken, director of the Manitoba branch of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

With food bank use, for instance, soaring among the working poor, the 2024 minimum-wage increase is “unacceptable,” she said.

“To make life truly affordable for the 38,000 Manitobans surviving on minimum wage (it) needs to be set at a living wage, which was $19.21 per hour in 2023.”

Manitoba needs to change the process used to calculate it, so it reflects the actual cost of living, McCracken added. “Increasing the minimum wage boosts the economy from the bottom up and has a net positive impact on the economy, as shown in study after study.”

The Manitoba Federation of Labour said Wednesday the Pallister-era legislation that tied minimum-wage increases to inflation kept that pay level too low for too long.

“Going up 50 cents is a good first step, but we’ve got a lot more to get in place so that when people work full-time they aren’t living in poverty,” said MFL president Kevin Rebeck.

“It really points to the need to see the… legislation being repealed and for our province to move to a minimum wage that’s a living wage.”

— with files from Martin Cash

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca