Minimum wage increase creates additional challenge for B.C. restaurant industry
Posted May 31, 2020 2:17 pm.
Last Updated May 31, 2020 2:22 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — On Monday the minimum wage is rising from $13.85 to $14.60 and a restaurant industry spokesperson says the timing of the increase is not ideal.
Many eateries have seen revenue plummet due to the pandemic and have reopened with drastically reduced capacity due to COVID-19-related restrictions.
Ian Tostenson with the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association says adding another cost will pose another challenge.
“We would prefer to see it deferred. We as an industry certainly supported the staged approach the government had on increasing the minimum wage. But no one ever anticipated a pandemic in the middle of this,” he says.
Still, Tostenson commends various levels of government for their efforts to support the industry pointing to the easing of patio regulations as one real positive for the industry.
He also acknowledges that the NDP government made the pay hike apart of their platform, and there’s no getting away from it.
“We continue to appreciate the things that they’re doing for the industry because they get the bigger picture here is; it’s important to get 190,000 people in the industry getting money back … as soon as we can.”
