The Government of Prince Edward Island in Eastern Canada has announced two additional increases to the minimum wage over the next year.

In a press release issued today, the Progressive Conservative government led by Dennis King announced an increase in the minimum wage from $15.00 to $15.40 per hour on April 1, 2024, and then to $16.00 per hour on October 1, 2024, in line with a recommendation from the Employment Standards Board (ESB) in the province.

This total increase of one dollar over two installments amounts to 6.67%.

Additionally, the minimum wage in the island rose from $14.50 to $15.00 per hour on October 1 of this year, marking its second increase in 2023 after a raise of 80 cents per hour on the first day of the year.

The recent increase, as well as the next two scheduled for 2024, do not satisfy advocates for the disadvantaged or business groups.

Advocates for the disadvantaged also stated that the minimum wage is still far from the amount needed to live on the island.

According to the "Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives" (CCPA), an independent research institute, an individual needed to earn at least $19.30 per hour in 2020 to be able to live in Charlottetown, the capital of the island.

For its part, the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce (GCACC) stated that business owners are struggling with high interest rates, inflation, and the consequences of both the post-tropical storm “Fiona” that hit Eastern Canada a year ago and the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the increases in the minimum wage are therefore coming too quickly for them.

Prince Edward Island is the smallest of Canada's ten provinces in terms of area and population. It covers an area of 5,660 square kilometers and has an estimated population of around 174,000 according to Statistics Canada for the third quarter of 2023, with nearly half of them living in the Greater Charlottetown area.