It's only been three days since minimum wage went up in Ontario, but the fallout is starting.
One Windsor restaurant is closing and an Amherstburg diner has new menus with higher prices.
The restaurant at Vesti Pizza on Erie Street is slated to close on Friday. Owner Orlando Nalli tells CTV Windsor the boost to minimum wage is just too much to keep that part of his business viable, but he'll continue the frozen pizzas and catering service.
Maria's Restaurant in Amherstburg isn't closing, but the owners say they have to raise prices in order to pay their staff.
“Our breakfast special is $6.49 right now, but next week it’s going up to $7.99,” says restaurant owner Natalie Borrelli.
Borrelli says she has also cut hours from part time staff , eliminated night shifts and reduced the number of employees to clear the tables. But it’s not just how much her employees make under Bill 148 that is causing her headaches.
“They get 10 sick days off, two of which are now paid, which means they can call in sick on the drop of a dime and I have to pay them for that,” adds Borrelli.
Ontario raised its minimum wage to $14 per hour on Jan. 1 from $11.60 and plans to increase it to $15 in 2019.
Some residents say they support the increase.
“$10 an hour was difficult, because that’S not really a lot per hour, so we don't really get to save very much, with trying to save up for school,” says Mallory Brumm.
“Just having that bit of cash is going to be good, I think” adds Kaylei Welsford.
The Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce has lobbied extensively to phase-in the increase. President and CEO Matt Marchand says they will now focus their efforts on educating their members about the changes in Bill 148.
Marchand adds they will continue to lobby the provincial government to include some cost-saving initiatives in the spring budget to help small business, such as a break on cap and trade restrictions.
Alberta is also expected to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour later this year.
The Bank of Canada estimates there will be about 60,000 fewer jobs by 2019 due to the increases in minimum wages across the country, but that labour income will be higher due to the increases.
In examining the impact of the wage increases, the report estimated that the consumer price index could be boosted by about 0.1 percentage points on average and real gross domestic product could be cut by 0.1 per cent by early 2019.
The number of jobs lost was based on a 0.3 per cent decline in the number of hours worked, while aggregate real wages were estimated to increase 0.7 per cent.
The research paper by the staff at the central bank noted that if the average working hours declined following the increase in the minimum wage, the number of jobs lost would also be lower.
The Bank of Canada estimated that about eight per cent of all employees work at minimum wage, a proportion that increases to 11 per cent if a threshold of five per cent above minimum wage is used.
With files from The Canadian Press.
