Ontario hiking minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2022
Posted November 1, 2021 8:06 pm.
Last Updated November 2, 2021 12:20 pm.
The minimum wage in Ontario will rise from $14.35 to $15 an hour in 2022, Premier Doug Ford announced on Tuesday morning.
The minimum wage will then go up every October in line with the rate of inflation.
The province also confirmed that the liquor server’s minimum wage will increase to $15 an hour. That wage currently sits at $12.55 per hour.
The wage hikes will go into effect on January 1, 2022 and come after Ford initially scrapped a planned increase to $15 when his government took power over three years ago.
Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca was quick to call Ford out for changing his tune on minimum wage as an election nears.
“Seven months before an election, now that he’s desperate for votes,” Del Duca tweeted, pointing out the financial blow caused by the Ford government’s earlier wage freeze.
Doug Ford’s wage freeze in 2018 cost Ontario’s minimum wage earners $6200. Seven months before an election, now that he’s desperate for votes, @fordnation’s finally ending his fight against minimum wage workers. #onpoli https://t.co/HwGKtgDpc8
— Steven Del Duca (@StevenDelDuca) November 2, 2021
Meanwhile, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says it was “shocked” by the news.
Ryan Mallough, the CFIB’s senior director of provincial affairs for Ontario, told CityNews the wage hike “came out of nowhere, there was no consultation or warning.”
Mallough says many small businesses, especially those in hospitality, will suffer.
“To see this happening so abruptly and in particular for hard hit industries is a really bitter pill to swallow as we head into a very important holiday season,” he said.
Mallough said coming off the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses will have a hard time dealing with the extra cost.
“In the short term, when businesses are at their most vulnerable, this is going to be another major input cost that they are going to have to face regardless of whether or not they are making money.
“It is going to be a tight pinch … but the timing heading into a crucial holiday season is going to be incredibly difficult.”
With files from Richard Southern
