CFIB challenges Alberta on next minimum wage hike

by Morinville News Staff

Citing their own analysis that shows the minimum wage in Alberta has risen almost four times faster than inflation since 2005, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) called on the provincial government to halt further minimum wage hikes.

Alberta is set to raise minimum wage another $1.40 jump to the targeted $15 per hour minimum wage on October 1st. The business lobby group is challenging the Alberta Government to publicly release its economic analysis on their minimum wage policy and called for an immediate halt to any further increases until the Government can show it has done its homework about the impact on employment and the economy.


Alberta: Minimum Wage Hikes vs Inflation, accumulated % change, 2005 to 2018

CFIB used Statistics Canada and Bank of Canada data to illustrate that inflation rose 30 per cent from 2005 to 2018, while the minimum wage rose by 114 per cent, almost four times faster.

“Massive hikes in the cost of entry-level wages over the past few years have squeezed a growing number of small businesses. This steep and costly trajectory defies economic logic and simply cannot continue without more and more independent businesses getting squashed,” said Amber Ruddy, Alberta Director.

Ruddy said by increasing the cost of creating entry-level jobs so dramatically, the Alberta Government has left many employers in the small business community scrambling to cope.

“It has forced business owners to adopt a long list of cost-cutting measures, such as eliminating entry-level jobs, reducing hours for existing staff, forgoing expansion plans, as well as eking out price adjustments if the competitive market allows,” she said. “They have truly been stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

3 Comments

  1. Citing their own analysis… That’s too rich. Once again, it’s been proven to work in every case study done. Funny they don’t mention all of those in their ground breaking analysis.

Comments are closed.