Minimum wage freeze a relief for Sudbury businesses, Chamber of Commerce says

The business community in Greater Sudbury is getting a reprieve from a scheduled minimum wage hike in January, according to the head of the Chamber of Commerce.

The province has announced it is holding the minimum wage at $14 an hour, for the time being.

The previous Liberal government increased the minimum wage from $11.60 at the start of the year, with plans for a further raise to $15 in January 2019.

Michael Macnamara, chair of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, says businesses in Sudbury were having a hard time adjusting financially to the higher wage.

"In some cases their margins were less than they were going to be paying their workers, so in that situation the last thing anyone wants to see is workers lose their jobs because of a business being forced to close their doors," he said.

Businesses 'forced to close their doors'

Mcnamara added that some businesses in Sudbury have gone under, but he declined to give an example.

"Over the coming weeks there should be several stories coming out at the Ontario Chamber level, sort of feature stories that will mention specific businesses that have been forced to close their doors," he said.

Macnamara said the Chamber isn't opposed to future increases, but wants the system to be "predictable and consistent."

"We'd like to see the system return to one where the minimum wage would rise annually, in accordance with the consumer price index, and so that it be essentially tied to inflation," he said.

Ontario Labour Minister Laurie Scott told reporters on Wednesday the Progressive Conservative government will be reviewing the legislation and conducting consultations on the changes.

In addition to the minimum wage increase, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act passed by the Liberals contains guaranteed sick days for employees, new scheduling rules and pay equity for part-time workers.