Native advocates say the province’s minimal wage hike would not go far sufficient to assist Ontarians struggling to afford rising meals and housing prices.
On Tuesday, the province elevated the final minimal wage to $17.20 an hour, up from $16.55, with the coed minimal wage leaping from $15.16 to $16.20.
“Does that transfer somebody to a spot of consolation? It would not. It means s these of us are nonetheless in survival mode and they’re making an attempt to make it by day-to-day,” stated Brian Shelley, chief government and philanthropy officer with the United Approach Muskoka.
In Simcoe County, the United Approach says 18 per cent of households are low-income whereas one in three are struggling to place meals on the desk.
“I believe we must be advocating for higher wages for workers. In an ideal state of affairs, of us aren’t reliant on meals banks. Meals banks are supposed to be a brief measure. They weren’t meant to be the answer. We want individuals to be making a wage the place they’ll cowl their prices and feed their household,” stated Shelley.
Jennifer van Gennip, director of communications and advocacy at Redwood Park Communities in Simcoe County, stated the rise is not practically sufficient for a lot of households her group helps.
“No, it doesn’t assist anyone. It is $26 every week, and we, all of us, know that even simply in our common residing bills, we have now seen greater than a $26 every week enhance in our fuel and meals,” stated Gennip.
For enterprise homeowners, the wage enhance can pose a problem.
Don Thordarson owns the Iron Skillet in Barrie and stated that whereas he helps paying workers extra, it is not so simple as it sounds.
“So I perceive a wage enhance, enterprise and necessity, with the value of the whole lot going up. However as a small enterprise proprietor, it hurts our backside line. Sure. The rise of meals, the rise of utilities. It type of hurts,” stated Thordarson.
Tuesday’s minimal wage enhance means Ontario will now have the second-highest provincial minimal wage within the nation, behind British Columbia.
