PHOTOS: Do Halifax residents think $15 minimum wage is enough?

Minimum wage in Nova Scotia will increase to $15, the provincial government has announced. 

The Nova Scotia minimum wage review committee recommended the change back in December to combat the “unforeseen increases in inflation.” 

Minimum wage currently sits at $13.60.

It will increase to $14.50 on April 1, then $15 on Oct. 1. 

The review committee’s latest report states that between April 2021 and March 2022, Nova Scotia had 28,500 minimum wage workers, making up about seven per cent of the province’s labour force. 

Despite the upcoming increase, a Sept. 2022 report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives states the living wage for Halifax is currently $23.50. This amount is calculated based on what the organization states a household needs to “meet its basic needs.”

The Signal talked to people in Halifax to ask if a minimum wage increase to $15 will be enough. 

“I don’t think they need six months to do [it]. I wish they would do it as early as possible,” said Vinay Rekha, 29. “It would make a difference for me if the wage increases, it would definitely help me with my expenses.” 

With an extra $50 extra per month, Rekha said he could go out and “do things” more often and “would be able to send more money back home.”

“Even if you did it now or in six months, it is not going to make a difference,” said Amy Morash, 37. “Things are going to go up, whether you make $15 now or $15 later …”

Jack Wiggan, 21, said the increase “is a little bit of a drop in the pond because the cost of living overall keeps going up.”

Wiggan said as an upper-year university student, the wage increase is something he has started to consider as he “will be entering the workforce” soon.

“You have to combat price increases as a whole, just raising the minimum wage may help some people, but it’s kind of a Band-Aid fix.”

“Everyone needs to be making at least $20 to $25 an hour just to pay rent here,” said John Francis, 57.  

He said for the minimum wage to increase by $1.40 is “nothing” and that families are struggling due to the rising cost of living just to buy the essentials.

“The increase is not enough, it needs to be a little bit more.”

The increase “might help but I think there are bigger problems. It is not going to make much of a difference for families,” said Chloe Giberson, 27.