P.E.I. minimum wage moving to $16 next year

PEI·New

The P.E.I. government has announced two more increases to the minimum wage for the coming year.

Next increase coming April 1

$16 in cash on table
The minimum wage will move to $16 on Oct. 1, 2024. (Kevin Yarr/CBC)

The P.E.I. government has announced two more increases to the minimum wage for the coming year.

In a news release Wednesday morning, the province announced the wage would increase from $15 to $15.40 on April 1, and then to $16 on Oct. 1, following a recommendation from the Employment Standards Board.

The wage moved to $15 on Sunday.

Neither poverty advocates or business interest groups are happy with recent movements in the minimum wage.

Poverty advocates say the wage is far from what is required to make a living in the province. 

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives pegged a living wage for someone in Charlottetown at $19.30 per hour in 2020.

Meanwhile, the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce says businesses are already struggling with high interest rates, inflation and the aftermath of both post-tropical storm Fiona and the COVID-19 pandemic, and increases in wages are happening too quickly for them to keep up.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Yarr is the early morning web journalist at CBC P.E.I. Kevin has a specialty in data journalism, and how statistics relate to the changing lives of Islanders. He has a BSc and a BA from Dalhousie University, and studied journalism at Holland College in Charlottetown. You can reach him at kevin.yarr@cbc.ca.

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