Brian Pallister’s minimum wage law will limit earners to twenty cent increase in 2025

January 24, 2025

Two-dime increase not enough as gas prices, bus fares and MPI rates continue to climb


(Winnipeg) – Manitoba’s annual inflation rate for 2024, released this week by Statistics Canada, means that minimum wage earners will only receive a twenty cent increase (from $15.80 to $16) this year due to Brian Pallister’s minimum wage law that has been left in place so far by the current provincial government, Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck said today.

“No one should work full time and still live in poverty, but that is the harsh reality for many minimum wage earners in Manitoba,” said Rebeck. “Working families are facing a jump in gas prices and bus fares to start this year, and there is a 5.7 per cent increase to MPI rates on the way. Minimum wage earners are feeling these price increases now, but they will only receive a couple more dimes an hour starting in October because of Pallister’s minimum wage law.”

Rebeck noted that while Manitoba’s annual inflation rate for 2024 was 1.1 per cent, that number represents an average of all kinds of price changes. According to Statistics Canada, Manitoba food prices and rent and housing costs increased by 3.3 and 4.9 per cent respectively in 2024. That means two things that minimum wage earners spend most of their money on jumped by three and four times the overall inflation rate.

In its first year, the Pallister government froze Manitoba’s minimum wage and then it passed legislation to limit minimum wage increases by the previous year’s inflation rate. Because of the one year freeze and the fact that the starting point for the inflationary increases was below a poverty wage level, the law prevents minimum wage earners from ever getting above the poverty line.

While low-wage workers are feeling the squeeze of rising gas prices, bus fares, and MPI rates right now, these increases will not be factored into the minimum wage until 22 months from now in October 2026. This long lag time is another major problem with the law.
 
“Manitoba needs a new approach to minimum wage, one that helps low-wage workers cover groceries, transportation and other essential costs,” said Rebeck. “We are calling on the NDP government to get rid of the Pallister minimum wage law in the upcoming legislative session and create its own plan to lift low-wage workers out of poverty.”