The Ontario Minimum Wage Advisory Panel has released a report recommending that minimum wages should be revised annually by a percentage equal to the percent change in the province’s consumer price index (CPI).
The panel also made three other recommendations.
- Minimum wages should be revised annually, and a minimum of four months’ notice of any wage change should be provided. The effective date of minimum wage changes should be April 1 of the following year. This would result in notification by Dec. 1 of the previous year.
- The government should undertake a full review of the minimum wage rate and the revision process every five years. This review should be conducted by a panel of stakeholders and a neutral chair. The mandate of this panel would be to review Ontario’s past experience with minimum wage revisions within the context of Ontario’s social and economic progress and prevailing practices in other jurisdictions to recommend changes that could better serve Ontario’s future needs.
- To aid the full review process, and to ensure that Ontario’s minimum wage policies are in step with the needs of its citizens, the government should establish an ongoing research program for data and information gathering and its subsequent analysis to address policy-relevant minimum wage issues.
But the panel did not make a recommendation regarding retroactive adjustments to the minimum wage, which has stayed at $10.25 an hour since 2010.
“With representation from the business, labour and anti-poverty sectors, the panel has delivered a consensus report,” says Yasir Naqvi, Ontario’s minister of labour. “We are reviewing its recommendations and will bring our plan forward shortly.”
The Retail Council of Canada, which was part of the panel, supports the recommendations.
“Adopting a CPI-driven minimum wage policy strips the politics out of this important decision and provides the element of predictability that has been lacking in the past,” says Diane J. Brisebois, president of the Retail Council of Canada.
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