Saskatchewan’s minimum wage earners are receiving a $0.26 hourly wage increase on Oct. 1.
Shea Goyer is an employee earning the minimum wage who knows just how tough it is to make ends meet.
“You do kind of have to pick and choose where you’re doing to allocate your income. It’s hard to save. It’s hard to sometimes afford even necessities. Things like working in a coffee shop or sandwich shop so you can get fed once a shift,” said the barista.
Currently, the minimum wage is $11.06 and the upcoming boost will be the 11th increase the province has put in place since 2007.
However, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) said those numbers can be misleading, and with the increase, Saskatchewan still has the lowest minimum wage in the country.
“The small bumps we see over the past several years doesn’t come anywhere near to the cost of living that people need to reach in order to make a decent living,” said president Lori Jobh.
She added that the SFL is asking the government to consider implementing a $15 minimum wage, which would allow low-income earners to spend more.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) said that large of a jump would hurt youth employment.
“Employers would have a number of choices. One would be that as their wage cost increases, they would choose to hire fewer young people or hire more experienced workers,” said vice-president of prairie and agri-business Marilyn Braun-Pollon.
She added the CFIB would rather see a training wage or gratuity wage put in place and see tax breaks for low-income earners.
A 2017 report from Living Wage Canada estimated the living wage in Saskatoon was $16.19.
A 2016 report from that group said the living wage in Regina was $16.95.
The province uses a formula to determine changes to the minimum wage which it said offers regular and predictable changes to the hourly rate.
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