Yesterday, the Province announced two minimum wage increases for 2024.
On April 1, 2024, minimum wage will increase from $15/hour to $15.40/hour.
On October 1, 2024, minimum wage will increase to $16/hour.
On June 16, our Chamber submitted its recommendations to the provincial Employment Standard Board’s Annual Minimum Wage Rate Review on behalf of members, after surveying members on this topic.
We recommended the provincial government:
- Mandate that a notice of a minimum wage rate change be given no later than six months before a scheduled increase.
- Set its desired minimum wage target, and once the target is achieved, begin to tie future minimum wage increases to the Consumer Price Index.
- Tie subsequent Basic Personal Amount increases to the Consumer Price Index.
- Implement a more competitive rate for its lowest tax bracket.
- Implement a personal income tax indexing system to prevent inflationary bracket creep.
Recently, results from our Membership Survey showed the increasing cost of doing business as the top concern for our members. This year, one of our main advocacy focuses is asking the government to step up to the plate and implement affordability measures related to taxation to support Islanders, as seen in the recommendations above. We will continue to advocate for these asks on behalf of the business community.