Minimum wage rising to $15 in P.E.I., but advocates say that's not enough

Prince Edward Island's minimum wage will be going up to $15 an hour on Sunday, but social advocates say the increase doesn't go far enough for people in the throes of poverty.

Starting Oct. 1, the minimum wage will be up by 50 cents an hour from $14.50.

This is the second of two increases planned for the year after the Employment Standards Board's yearly review recommended that the government move more quickly toward its $15 minimum-wage goal because of the pain of high inflation. At the beginning of 2023, wages went up from $13.70 to $14.50. 

That's nominally a $1.30 increase. In real terms, the 3.5 per cent inflation rate in the last year means a person who earned $13.70 an hour last August would be making the equivalent of only 78 cents more in August 2023.

Inflation is measured by the Consumer Price Index, which tracks the overall change in consumer prices over time by keeping tabs on what a basket of common goods and services would cost. 

Given how much more things are costing, Mary Boyd, co-ordinator with the MacKillop Centre for Social Justice, says the pair of increases in the minimum wage aren't enough.

In 2020, a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives determined the living wage for someone in Charlottetown was $19.30 per hour. The minimum wage at the time was $13.

"You can imagine how much more everything has increased for all families and all workers," Boyd said of the three years that have passed since then.

Of the new $15 minimum wage, she said: "At this point it looks very, very inadequate, and it's going to be very difficult for people as it is. It's not going to make those improvements that people were hoping for."

In a report released by Food Banks Canada earlier this week, P.E.I.'s attempts to fight poverty got a C- grade — though that is still one of the best marks in the country. 

P.E.I.'s Department of Social Development and Seniors told CBC News in a statement that it continues to discuss a guaranteed basic income project, in partnership with the federal government.

The province is now piloting a targeted basic income program that has 635 clients.

Boyd said the province needs to strengthen its safety need to help Islanders in need.

"There's been a lot of promotion of a guaranteed income, and it's clear that people need more income. But that's not the only story," she said.