The $15 Minimum Wage is Coming to Canada – Here’s Why It Will Fail

The concept of a $15 minimum wage has gone from insanity to viable in just a few short years thanks to movements like the “Fight for Fifteen,” and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

A handful of cities have already passed $15 minimum wage ordinances, as have the states New York and California (by 2021 and 2022, respectively).

It’s an insanely idiotic idea, as a new study from the University of Washington has confirmed. It found that raising the minimum wage from $11 to just $13 (the $15 rate doesn’t kick in until later) had huge effects. Employment fell so much that the income paid to low-wage employees sank by roughly $120 million on a yearly basis. That worked out to a loss for each worker of $125 a month.

Tragically, the popularity of the $15 minimum wage has spread across the border, with the Canadian province of Ontario being the latest to pass a $15 minimum wage. As you’d expect, businesses are fearful for what this will do to them.

Via CBC News:

Owners of small businesses in the Ottawa area say they fear raising minimum wage so quickly could force them to raise prices and lay off workers.

Kathleen Wynne’s plan to raise Ontario’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2019 was the topic of a public hearing in Ottawa Wednesday morning, where many local businesses spoke about the impacts of a sharp jump.

While current minimum wage earners, who now make $11.40 an hour, are anxiously awaiting the extra money Bill 148 would bring, some Ottawa businesses say they worry about the consequences.

Paul Murphy, president of Calabogie Peaks Resort, said he won’t be able to afford to pay his current employees.

“Our biggest concern at Calabogie Peaks is that this legislation has come on way too fast and the magnitude of the increase is too steep for us to deal with,” said Murphy.

Here’s more from a local news report:

 

The poor people of Seattle already had to learn the hard lessons of the minimum wage. Low-wage workers were the losers of the city council’s best intentions. And now it looks like the people of Ontario, Canada, are about to make the very same mistake.

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By Matt

Matt is the co-founder of Unbiased America and a freelance writer specializing in economics and politics. He’s been published... More about Matt

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