A bill has been put forward by the NDP opposition in the legislature to increase Alberta’s minimum wage.
NDP MLA Kathleen Ganley says wages not keeping up with increased costs has been a struggle for many Albertans.
“They can’t afford things like their mortgages, their rent or their groceries. We’ve brought in an act to increase the minimum wage, it would go up $1 right away, another $1 the following year and get up to $18/hour in October 2027 and then index it to inflation. That’s just to catch us up and then try to keep up with the cost of living.”
Alberta’s minimum wage has been $15/hour since 2018 and is now the lowest among all the provinces and territories.
Ganley says many people are struggling with other costs as a result.
“People will sometimes say that increase in minimum wage kinda drives other wages to go up, and they say that like it’s a bad thing. The truth is that average wages are really falling relative to average costs of living. Wages aren’t growing and costs are growing. This is an attempt to help with this.”
The bill also calls for eliminating the youth minimum wage differential, which currently allows employers to pay students and youth under 18 as low as $13/hour.
You can listen to the full interview below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
