A review of the minimum wage in Alberta will be announced today.
Labour and Immigration Minister Jason Copping is hosting a media event alongside University of Alberta economist Joseph Marchand on the government’s plan to assess the wage.
The pledge to create an expert panel to “analyze and publish all of the available economic data on the labour market impact of the NDP’s 50 per cent increase in the minimum wage” was part of the United Conservative Party’s platform during the last election.
The panel will also “assess whether hospitality industry workers who serve alcohol would likely generate higher net incomes (i.e. by working more hours) with a wage differential similar to those that exist in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.”
The UCP government has already created a tiered minimum wage, allowing businesses to pay workers who are less than 18 years old and work fewer than 28 hours a week $13 per hour, as opposed to the $15 minimum that applies to everyone else.
The minimum wage was raised by the previous NDP government, going from $10 an hour in 2015 to $15 an hour in 2018.