Ontario's Minimum Wage set to Increase to $15/hr

[2014olympicgold]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...tion-1.4412363

I think it's idiotic to increase minimum from 11.40 to 15, that's insane, it's like a 30% increase. Why would ppl work their economy benefiting job, or go to school, when you can work a job and instantly get $15/hr? When I worked at McDs as a manager I was only getting $1 more than an 18yr old coming off the streak, so I even thought then why am I stressing myself out for that $1 more.

The fact that Metro Grocery has already come out saying it could cost like $40mill more for 2018 just based off this, and they'll cut jobs to make up for it is just showing to me how raising minimum wage does nothing.

You raise Min, prices will raise, or workers will decrease to offset the wage. So anyone not in a min-wage paying job suffers. Which is like 93% of Ontario, and that 7% of Ontario that is has to be mostly 16-21 yrs old. UGH WYNNE

[evans334]

I'm no economics or business major, but don't you think putting more money in the hands of people might mean they buy more things.....which means places will be busier....meaning they will need to be staffed more.....which means more / the same amount of jobs....not less

[fantasyhockeygeek]

Trickle-down economics has been debunked pretty heartily.

The takeaway for me here is that inflation is coming in a big way. It's been stifled, but it's coming.

[2014olympicgold]

Min goes up, prices go up. That's just how it's always worked. Things we buy as consumers are typically from retail stores (Clothing, grocery and such), they'll increase their prices to offset the minimum wage increase, or now cut jobs too offset it (but they'll raise prices too). Meanwhile ppl with full time non-consumer jobs so to speak (accountants, welders, and such) won't get the same percentage wage increase, making the difference of pay increase to consumer products increase not the same.

The thing that will 100% kill us I think is the Part Time employee getting the same pay as Full Time employees. I started working at McDs when PT minimum was $7.25, and a Big Mac meal was roughly $5. Full Time minimum at that time was like $9. If Minimum for PT employees (which is a big part of McDs employment force) made $9, BigMac meals would be like $7.00 too offset it. So now the difference between PT Min and a BigMac Meal went from +$2.25 to +$2.00. You can see already from the last 2yrs.

Right now minimum is $11.60 (sorry, i said 11.40 before). Bread costs roughly $4/loaf? So 34% of an hrs minimum pay. You can increase minimum to $100/hr, bread will just increase too offset it.

[Godin]

I'm no economics or business major, but don't you think putting more money in the hands of people might mean they buy more things.....which means places will be busier....meaning they will need to be staffed more.....which means more / the same amount of jobs....not less

Neither am I nor this government one would think.

I agree that the minimum wage should be at $15, but not like this. I think it is wreckless for a government to do this in such a short period. How are businesses to adjust so quickly?
Something would have to give and that would be people losing their jobs or as others have mentioned, inflation. The last thing this country needs is inflation! This could only expedite the gap between the rich and poor as the middle class is shrinking by the day. The housing inflation has put home owning out of reach for those that don't own homes.

In the meantime, Mexico just increased their minimum wage from $4.25 to $4.70.....a day!

[gainerama]

Here's what's going to happen:

With the increased cost of labor, business will increase prices, shave overhead costs starting with employing less people, cutting back employee hours, cutting back benefits
More small business will shut down as they cannot compete with large category killers like Walmart as any small profit margin affects them a lot more
Overall inflation and cost of living should increase with correlation to the minimum median income, goods and services should cost more going forward to absorb increased labor overhead costs

[Kofax]

Ya, businesses won't want to take the hit, so they will do what they need to in order to maintain the status quo. That means raising prices, cutting back on jobs and benefits, whatever it takes to limit the effect on their bottom line. A step back in business is unacceptable and they'll adjust accordingly. I just don't really see a benefit here.

[rataylor22]

I'm no economics or business major, but don't you think putting more money in the hands of people might mean they buy more things.....which means places will be busier....meaning they will need to be staffed more.....which means more / the same amount of jobs....not less

Yea, that's not really how it works. There's definitely a balance, but higher minimum wage doesn't = more money to people/consumers. Generally means less hours, or fewer employees, and higher costs. Alberta is doing this too and it's asinine.

It also means lots of small businesses close, because their profit margins are already so thin they can't afford a massive spike to the wages of their few employees.

Just one thing to remember folks....stop tipping everywhere.

[Godin]

Speaking of tipping, how does this affect the service industry since restaurant servers make less than the minimum wage?

[Mr. Guru]

If your establishment has a liquor licence minimum wage is currently $9.90.

That will increase to $12.20.

Lots of small business are going to have to raise their prices. There is just no way around it.

[Godin]

If your establishment has a liquor licence minimum wage is currently $9.90.

That will increase to $12.20.

Lots of small business are going to have to raise their prices. There is just no way around it.

No doubt. I could see a Crown and coke selling for $12. Already $9 at some establishments.

[2014olympicgold]

Alberta is on a similar path. I believe we'll also hit $15 within the next few years.

I don't agree with it.
I don't like government meddling with anything, frankly, because they typically don't know what they are doing. And they have a clear conflict of interest with almost every decision they make. Are they raising min. wage because they truly think it is better for the economy (despite evidence showing no clear right or wrong path on this issue) or are they doing it to endear themselves to poor voters. I would say the latter.

I would make the argument that abolishing minimum wage is better for the economy.
If employers want to find good resources, they will pay what they need to pay.

If Rotten Ronnies tries to pay its people $3/hr and A&W pays its people $6, all other things being equal, is Ronnies going to attract enough people to work in its restaurants? No.
Instead of increasing minimum wage, lower it and find a way to offer education incentives to people so they can earn credentials that enable them to earn a higher wage.
I don't want a high school kid, with no skills, experience (or ambition) earning a wage comparable to some entry level positions for diploma graduates. It's absurd.

Stop meddling!

I was going to say, why would someone who goes to college and struggles, gets through but can't get a job that's great and becomes a labourer so to speak? The pay between mcds and the labourer would be minimal but the job tougher.

Then I thought, well, maybe this in the longterm would benefit people going to school, because there would be less people going to school in turn, less people out there that can do a job that needs an education.

But, we've seen jumps in minimum pay before and it does not do this. It pretty much just raises the minimum line of living.

Also, there's a 100% chance this got done within recent memory of the next election. They wanted to do this last yr or the yr before, but it's just done now? And oh look, the election is in 6months (June 7th, 2018)

[Doug Glatt]

We already did this in Seattle. It has worked great. All of the right-wingers and the Chamber of Commerce made all the same excuses why it wouldnt work that the above posters have. And just like the old lie of trickle-down economics, they were full of shit yet again. So dont be so quick to dismiss this idea. There is a reason why so many cities are doing this now.

The right-wingers said legalizing marijuana would be the doom of society, too. All it has done is raise literally billions of dollars for education, ended criminalization of our citizens over use of a naturally-occurring plant, and took about 50 percent of the revenue away from drug cartels. It's been a win-win.

[Mr. Guru]

If Rotten Ronnies tries to pay its people $3/hr and A&W pays its people $6, all other things being equal, is Ronnies going to attract enough people to work in its restaurants? No.

I disagree, and I think Yes. Ronnies will still attract enough people to work in its restaurants. They'll attract a 'lesser' skilled person but a person nonetheless. The quality of the service would go down and that's what people will expect when your an employee or customer. Minimum wage is good to maintain standards in this country. That's the only reason I support minimum wage but I think it's a difference maker.

[rataylor22]

We already did this in Seattle. It has worked great. All of the right-wingers and the Chamber of Commerce made all the same excuses why it wouldnt work that the above posters have. And just like the old lie of trickle-down economics, they were full of shit yet again. So dont be so quick to dismiss this idea. There is a reason why so many cities are doing this now.

The right-wingers said legalizing marijuana would be the doom of society, too. All it has done is raise literally billions of dollars for education, ended criminalization of our citizens over use of a naturally-occurring plant, and took about 50 percent of the recvenue away from drug cartels. It's been a win-win.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/timwors.../#231ce5164cdb

https://www.forbes.com/sites/timwors.../#231ce5164cdb

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/b...imum-wage.html

Seattle is an interesting case study. Their economic growth is so aggressive that studies show it's tough to determine if the minimum wage actually is having a negative or positive impact. At best we cam say "inconclusive" and that Seattle is not indicative of a "standard" city. IE, the effects on Seattle would be much much different than the effects in Cleveland.