P.E.I. minimum wage committee open for submissions

A committee of P.E.I.'s Employment Standards Board is preparing to accept submissions on the next adjustment to the minimum wage.

The minimum wage on P.E.I. is currently $13 an hour. For the last few years, the government has moved the wage upwards every April 1.

Employment Standards Board chair Wayne Vessey said any Islander or Island organization can make a submission on the wage.

Vessey said the wage has been receiving more attention recently.

"It definitely is a sensitive issue for everyone," he said.

"It seems to be more so when we hear news [from] different parts of the world, even in the United States, os minimum wage perhaps being at $15 an hour. And there's been quite a movement for that in jurisdictions in Canada."

The committee made up of three employee representatives, three employer representatives, a chair and a vice chair will consider a broad range of issues when deciding whether to leave the wage at the current level or raise it, said Vessey.

That will include cost of living, economic conditions in the province, measures of poverty, how many people are earning minimum wage and the demographic profile of those people, along with provisions for a reasonable return on investment for employers.

Submissions are open until Sept. 3. The committee aims to provide a recommendation the following month, in order to give employers time to prepare if there will be an increase in April 2022.

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