Even with a slight increase in the province's minimum wage, one local business professor calls it unfair and something that has no bearing on the average Ontarian.
The provincial government announced minimum wage will jump to $11.25/hr in October, up from $11/hr. "Twenty-five cents is neither here nor there," says Odette School of Business professor emeritus Alfie Morgan.
But Morgan says this small increase will make a big difference for people working multiple minimum wage jobs. "These people, they need a lot of help. You just cannot live on the minimum wage right now -- it's unfair to these individuals," says Morgan. "As far as businesses, they should learn to pay people well in order to motivate them and keep them in such high spirits."
He says the increase will hurt small businesses that operate on very thin margins. "They might not be able to afford the increase and in this case what they will do is pass it on to the consumer," says Morgan. "However, my thinking is that really, small businesses will just accommodate it and will not raise the prices immediately."
A more suitable minimum wage for 2015, Morgan says, is at least $15/hr. "Our people have to live. We cannot drive into poverty," says Morgan. "Because again they end up below the poverty line and then the taxpayer will have to subsidize them. So I think we have to put some money in those people's hands."
The new minimum wage takes effect October 1.
