The provincial NDP government announced last week it’s increasing the minimum wage this fall to reflect the province’s inflation rate in 2025.
The wage will increase from $16 to $16.40 and take effect on Oct. 1.
The government has increased the minimum wage several times since it returned to power in 2022 in order to help Manitobans facing financial challenges with rising inflation.
The cost of living rose significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic when worldwide supply chains were interrupted. The current American-Israeli war on Iran, which began on Feb. 28, resulted in an immediate and painful jump in gasoline prices. The war is expected to drive up global inflation and possibly spark a recession depending on how long it continues.
From a low of $11.95 in 2022, the provincial government increased the minimum wage that year to $13.50, then to $14.15 in 2023, $15.30 in 2023, $15.80 in 2024 and $16 in 2025, according to the province’s “Historical Summary of Minimum Wage Rates in Manitoba.” It shows the minimum wage having hovered in the $11 range between 2015 and 2021.
Following the 2022 increase, the government sought to cushion the impact on small businesses by offering a Small Business Minimum Wage Adjustment Program, which provided a time-limited, one-time payment.
Although some businesses may feel the impact of the upcoming wage rise, some organizations say the $16.40 increase won’t meet the needs of many Manitobans.
Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck said the 40-cent increase is well short of a living wage, and will keep minimum-wage earners “trapped below the poverty line.”
“The small 40-cent increase to the minimum wage announced today falls well short of what minimum wage earners need to afford essentials like groceries and rent,” said Rebeck in a March 31 statement. “No one should work full time and still live in poverty, but that is the harsh reality for many minimum wage earners in Manitoba, because … our minimum wage falls well below a living wage.”
Although the provincial government’s budget includes affordability measures such as free bus passes for youth, free menstrual products paid by employers and free child care for low-income families, Rebeck said instituting a living wage would do “far more” to help workers by adding hundreds of dollars to their paycheques.
Citing a analysis by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Rebeck said workers in Winnipeg would need to earn $19.77 an hour to meet their basic needs.
“The punishing price increase in groceries, housing and other essentials are something that all working families are dealing with, but the cost of living crisis is hitting our lowest wage workers the hardest,” said Rebeck.
A living wage enables people to avoid having to live in poverty but may not help them address future inflationary pressures, help them save for a home or a car or help them pay down personal debt.
The Express contacted a number of Interlake businesses in different communities, as well as the Gimli Chamber of Commerce, for comment on the minimum wage increase.
