Minimum wage to hit $12.65 in June
B.C.’s plan to reach $15.20 by 2021 balances demands from business and anti-poverty advocates
Premier John Horgan’s promise Thursday of a phased increase in the minimum wage to $15.20 an hour by 2021 was called moving too fast or too slow, depending on the group represented.
It starts with a $1.30 raise to $12.65 in June, then $1.20 in 2019 with smaller increases in 2020 and 2021, which Horgan characterized as a compromise in keeping with a comprehensive review by the fair-wage commission he set up last October.
“We believe 2021 is not overly ambitious,” Horgan said. “In fact, it’s going to be a disappointment to some. We’re trying to find a balance of predictability for business and some sense of hope to people living on wages below $15 today.”
It was a balance between business groups, which largely lobbied for a five-year path to the $15 mark and anti-poverty advocates that wanted to see B.C. match Alberta and Ontario, which plan $15 by 2019.
Cleaner Delia Tanza, 53, works three jobs to cover rent, bus pass and groceries for her and a 16-year-old son, and would be happy with $15.20 per hour at all of them, but “we’re hoping that we have that right now.”
Her co-worker, Analou Espina, 43, added that two years is too long to wait, because “the living wage in Vancouver is so high. Everything is very expensive.”
Both earn about $11.75 an hour working full time as cleaners for Best Service Pros at Capilano University, and will be among those who benefit from the increase, which will apply to 94,000 minimum-wage earners, according to government estimates,
The government estimates bringing the minimum to $15 will increase wages to 400,000 workers, and Horgan said the government is deliberately making the biggest hikes at a time of rosy expectations for the economy.
Thursday’s move won’t change things for liquor servers who earn tips or agricultural piece workers. Their wage rates will be dealt with in a second phase that government plans to roll out in March.
The raise lives up to an NDP election campaign promise, moderated by an effort to review wages that the B.C. Green party advocated for in the agreement the parties negotiated to take power.
Green Leader Andrew Weaver had been opposed to arbitrarily raising the minimum wage to $15, but on Thursday said he supports the result.
Front-end loading the increases in the first two years will force small businesses to cut costs, which will result in less hiring and rolling back hours for other employees, said Richard Truscott, vice-president for B.C. and Alberta at the Canadian Federation for Small Business.
Horgan said government is also reducing costs for business with measures such as cutting sales tax on electricity and reducing small business tax rates. Truscott called those measures “small pats on the back at the same time they’re punching small business in the gut.”