Minimum wage going up

The Minimum wage in the province will rise to 11-dollars and 25-cents an hour starting October 1st.     The Liberal government enacted legislation in the fall that tied minimum wage to inflation, so every year the new rate will be announced by April 1st to take effect that October.
The Ministry of Labour says this is the ninth minimum wage increase since the Liberals took power in 2003.
The Northwest Territories’ minimum wage will be increased to 12-50 in June, making it the highest rate in the country. The president of the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce Jake Lacourse says businesses do have time to plan for the increase but increases can’t continue every year for an economy that has been stagnant. 

He says if the economy is seeing growth increasing the minimum wage would make sense.

Lacourse says when the minimum wage goes up there are also increased costs to the employers portion of EI and CPP, vacation pay and benefits too.

Still the president of the North Bay and District Labor Council says they will campaign for a 15 dollar an hour minimum wage as the 11.25 amount is still below the poverty line.
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