PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND’S minimum wage is going up for the third time in 13 months, and some businesses in the province aren’t pleased.

On July 1, the minimum wage in P.E.I. will jump to $10.50 an hour from $10.35. In 2014, the minimum wage was increased twice, going to $10.20 an hour from $10 an hour in April of that year, then to $10.35 an hour in October. The latest minimum wage increase has already been criticized by Greater Summerside Chamber of Commerce president Jonathan Greenan as being a detriment to small business growth in the province.

Erin McGrath-Gaudet, director, P.E.I. and intergovernmental policy with the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, says Greenan’s criticism is not mere whining. While a 15-cent increase doesn’t sound like a lot, she says some small businesses, such as convenience stores and gas stations, could find it difficult to recoup the new cost because the price of some of their key products like gasoline and cigarettes are regulated and can’t be changed by the owners.

She added that in order to make up for the extra wages, small business owners may use other methods to cut costs. “Often we find more small business owners will work more hours themselves or cut back on the hours they are giving to part-time workers,” McGrath-Gaudet says.

The Retail Council of Canada says since 2007, P.E.I.’s minimum wage has increased by 46 per cent (to $10.50 from $7.50). McGrath-Gaudet says the wage increases have come at a time when the economy hasn’t been strong enough to absorb them. “At the end of the day the pie is only so big. This is not new money out in the economy, it’s just divided differently,” McGrath-Gaudet says.