Manitoba’s minimum wage has gone up to $11.65 per hour after a change was enacted by the provincial government Oct. 1.
“We continue to provide predictable and sustainable increases to Manitoba’s minimum wage, which achieves the right balance benefitting both employees and employers,” said Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade Blaine Pedersen in a news release. “Regular minimum wage increases improve wages for working Manitobans and provide predictability for small and medium-sized businesses.”
The adjustment was based on Manitoba’s 2018 inflation rate of 2.5 per cent. Manitoba’s minimum wage has increased every year except for 2016 since 2001, when it was $6.25 per hour. Manitoba’s minimum wage hasn’t grown by more than 30 cents since 2011. In 2018, the minimum wage increased by 20 cents.
The increase is far from what advocates of a living wage are calling for. A 2017 report from the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives calculated a living wage for Thompson would be $15.28 per hour.
“A living wage is based on the principle that full-time work should provide families with a basic level of economic security, not keep them in poverty,” the study said.
“[The wage is calculated to be] the amount needed for a family of four with two parents working full-time to pay for necessities, support the healthy development of their children, escape financial stress, and participate in the social, civic and cultural lives of their communities.”
Pedersen pointed to his government’s history of reducing taxes, including the provincial sales tax, as a way to make life more affordable.
“We will build on the success we have achieved in our first term of office and continue to move Manitoba forward on a path toward a better, brighter, more affordable future for all Manitobans,” he said.
