On Thursday, the New Brunswick government announced a plan to increase New Brunswick\u2019s minimum wage by $2 over the course of 2022. The first raise of one dollar, from $11.75 to $12.75, will happen in April, about four months from now. Then six months after that, in October 2022, the minimum wage will go up by another dollar, to $13.75.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move should knock New Brunswick out of its uncomfortable spot as the province with the lowest minimum wage in Canada, which labour minister Trevor Holder cited as a motivation for the move at the announcement Thursday. \u201cWe cannot be last in Atlantic Canada,\u201d said Holder, citing the example of wage discrepancies between border towns like Amherst and Sackville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll put it to you this way,\u201d said Holder. \u201cA hamburger costs pretty much the same in Sackville as it does in Amherst. And it costs about the same to produce it. My question is, why would anybody think that it’s appropriate that the person serving that hamburger in Sackville is compensated $2 less than the person over in Amherst? It’s just unacceptable. It’s time that we moved on and made sure that we weren’t leaving New Brunswickers behind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, PEI plans to raise its minimum wage to $13.70 in April, when most provinces make their annual adjustments. That will leave PEI in the top position in the Maritimes until October, when the second raise in New Brunswick will put this province 5 cents higher, at $13.75.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nova Scotia has yet to announce plans for what will happen with its $12.95 cent minimum wage in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The combined raised in New Brunswick will amount to a 17% increase in the minimum wage by next October. That is still short of what researchers are calling the living wage for the region. A living wage reflects the amount a household would have to earn to cover basic needs and live with dignity while enjoying a decent quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Human Development Council in Saint John crunched the numbers on expenses for a family of four living in New Brunswick\u2019s cities. They found that a living wage for the Moncton area would be $18.65 per hour for a full time worker, based on a two income household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday reporters asked Holder about the discrepancy. \u201cObviously, we’ve been watching those reports,\u201d said Holder. \u201cI think it’s important to note that we have to do things slowly. We have to give businesses the time to be able to react and prepare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Holder says he plans to restart conversations among the Atlantic provinces about moving to a harmonized minimum wage. \u201cAnd that will include discussions around a living wage as we move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This proposed raise by the Higgs government is a departure from previous action on the minimum wage. This past April, the wage went up by only five cents, to match the percentage increase in the consumer price index for December 2020. You can read more about that here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n