Minimum wage increases bad for business: Chamber of Commerce

Increases to P.E.I.'s minimum wage will put Island employers at a competitive disadvantage, the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce said Thursday.

• P.E.I. minimum wage increases irk restaurant industry
• P.E.I. minimum wage moving to $11

The province announced Thursday that minimum wage would increase twice in 2016, moving it from $10.50 an hour to $11.00 by Oct. 1, 2016.

That will make it the highest minimum wage in Atlantic Canada.

"Employers want a process that ensures P.E.I.'s competitiveness," said chamber president Wendy Drake in a written release Thursday.

Drake said she worries the move will discourage investment, economic growth and job creation.

She said the chamber did submit its opinion to P.E.I.'s Employment Standards Board as part of the public input process, and asked that future increases to the minimum wage be tied to increases in the Consumer Price Index.

The chamber also reiterated strong support for increasing the basic personal tax exemption in P.E.I., saying the Island has the lowest basic personal exemption in Canada.

Drake called on the province to institute annual indexing of personal income tax brackets "to remove the hidden tax hike that minimum wage earners experience every year due to inflation and the low basic personal exemption."

"This will put more money in the pockets of employees without negatively impacting employers' wage budgets," said Drake.

The chamber's 975 members have a total 17,500 employees in small, medium and large enterprises in the capital region.