Average real wage falls
Feb 25, 2018
Ontario’s minimum wage increase is showing up on restaurant menus.
Prices for food purchased at the province’s eateries rose 1.9 per cent in January from a month earlier, Statistics Canada reported Friday from Ottawa. That coincides with legislative changes that saw the minimum wage increase more than 20 per cent at the start of this year to $14 an hour.
Of course, the negative effects of the minimum wage spike aren't limited to restaurants.
Ontario outpaced inflation in other provinces and territories for other categories as well.
Child-care and housekeeping services in Ontario, for example, increased 9.9 per cent in January compared with the same month the previous year, according to Statistics Canada, while Canada-wide that service increased 5.8 per cent.
Those are stunning increases in just one year. Soon, the prices will catch up and then the drum beats for $20 or $25 minimum wage will start. The only question is: how soon?
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