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There has been much discussion in recent weeks about the unintended consequences of Bill 148, the legislation that introduced a higher minimum wage in Ontario and extended numerous labour and employment standards provisions.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) along with the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce and our members understand the intent of the legislation. But we also understand that evidence-based public policy must be fundamental in a properly functioning democracy. For months, the OCC has forewarned that any objective analysis of these changes will lead to significant job loss, a 50% increase in inflation over and above what would otherwise be expected in the next few years, and an acceleration toward automation. Now we are seeing these consequences come to fruition as businesses take extra-ordinary actions. The implementation was too much too fast. It is clear that the Government of Ontario must take further action to mitigate the unintended consequences of Bill 148. We will continue to call on government to provide offsets in the upcoming budget that will help employers manage this drastic increase in labour costs. We must ensure that we are doing all we can so that Ontario remains competitive. Let’s lower the rhetoric, on all sides, and ensure that we are collectively helping to shape an inclusive and shared prosperity here in Ontario. Advocacy: Bill 148 Information Page
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 Bill 148 the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act has received royal assent. The bill represents the most sweeping changes to the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and the Labour Relations Act (LRA) in decades.
Recently, the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce held an information workshop at the 2017 Business Summit, where attendees continued to have a lot of questions about the impact and how to comply with the new rules. The legislation also includes 175 new ESA and LRA enforcement officers. The minimum wage increase to $14 will come into effect on January 1, 2018 along with a number of other ESA changes. However, there are two pieces that are in effect now and two more that come into effect on December 3, 2017. In effect now: Protection Against Employee Misclassification: The Employment Standards Act, 2000, now expressly prohibits employers from misclassifying employees as "independent contractors". This is intended to address cases where employers improperly treat their employees as if they are self-employed and not entitled to the protections of the ESA. In the event of a dispute, the employer would be responsible for proving that the individual is not an employee. Changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Act: The Act now prevents employers from requiring a worker to wear footwear with an elevated heel, for example, high heels, at work, unless such footwear is required for the worker's safety. In effect as of December 3: Critical Illness Leave: An employee will be entitled to take up to 17 weeks of leave in a 52 week period to provide care or support to a critically ill adult family member. Parental Leave: The length of parental leave will increase; this leave was up to 35 weeks long if the employee took pregnancy leave, and 37 weeks otherwise. As of December 3, 2017, it can be up to 61 weeks if the employee takes pregnancy leave, and up to 63 weeks otherwise. Employers will be required to pay casual, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees the same rate as full-time, permanent employees when doing the same job. This will also apply for temporary help agency employees doing the same job as permanent employees at the company they are assigned to. These provisions will come into effect on April 1, 2018. If you’re not sure how the changes will apply to your business you can contact a Human Resources expert. We have several in the Chamber membership. You can find them under:
Or, there is a handbook that was developed by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. That document can be found on the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce website at: peterboroughchamber.ca/advocacy-bill-148.html Over the past six months, the Ontario business community has continually expressed concern about the pace of these changes and particularly small business's ability to react. Three studies from the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, TD Economics and the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario suggest significant job loss as a result of the legislation. All three also suggest the need for regionalization of the changes, as the minimum wage increase will have a different impact in downtown Toronto than in Peterborough. This point was mentioned during the panel session at the recent Business Summit. The Peterborough Chamber of Commerce has been in conversation with its membership since the announcement of Bill 148 at the end of May. In fact, the first roundtable with MPP Jeff Leal, Minister Responsible for Small Business was held in Peterborough in mid-June. The two dozen businesses in that room were not opposed to the governments desired outcome, but extremely concerned with the pace of implementation. Those concerns remain today and were reflected in two written submissions to government, including this quote which captures the essence of the business case: “This is a manufactured crisis. We [the business community] need government plans we can count on. We need change management and proper implementation. Roll it out over five years, we can figure it out. Roll it out over 18 months, we sink.” The submissions to government also included recommendations to target the outcomes through income tax measures, and to adjust scheduling measures for certain industries such as tourism, agriculture and weather dependent businesses (there were some amendments in this area). While measures in the Fall Economic Statement such as the lowering of the Small Business Tax Rate and the incentive to hire younger people are proactive, more needs to be done to ensure that Ontario’s economy and the positive growth we’ve seen is not negatively impacted. More: peterboroughchamber.ca/advocacy-bill-148.html  Let me start by saying that the Chamber of Commerce is fiercely non-partisan. We will openly like, or dislike any Government policy, no matter what party is in power. Policy, not Politics, is our mantra. In addition, we are very well represented, municipally, provincially and federally by our elected officials, including two cabinet ministers.
Having established that, and given that this is an opinion piece; It feels like there is a disconnect between the business community and Government. It feels like there isn’t enough understanding of what it actually takes to start a business and have it be successful. To be fair, I believe I understand the thinking. On the proposed Federal Corporate Tax changes, the Federal Liberal Party was clear in its intentions during the election that brought them to power – to go after tax cheats. Fair enough, some have taken unfair advantage of the existing regulations. However the proposed reforms go so far, and so deep as to gather the majority of incorporated business owners under the tax cheat umbrella. To say that the typical small business owner has been deeply offended by this is an understatement. It appears that the Government has been listening and has finally started to soften its approach, though it remains to be seen what the end result will be. A more careful, evidence-based approach would have been better. Similarly, with the Provincial Governments Bill 148, I understand the Governments desire to raise all boats on the tide of a $15 minimum wage. The Government appears committed to implementing the most dramatic increase in minimum wage in Ontario’s history! Their response to the universal “too much, too fast” response from business has been to promise mitigation measures. They are promising to mitigate a crisis that they’ve created! There is growing evidence that the timeline is indeed too much too fast. The Keep Ontario Working Coalitions peer reviewed CANCEA Report, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario Report, and the TD Economics Report, all warn of unintended consequences, some of them rather alarming. (These reports are all on our website.) The “tide” is starting to swamp local businesses with many of them already implementing their own mitigation strategies, including fewer hours, fewer jobs, and cancelled expansions. A more careful, evidence-based approach would have been better, tax measures and a basic income guarantee should be considered, and a five year implementation strategy is still an option that I hope the Government will take. This is small business week. I wonder how many people truly understand what it takes to create a job… Simply having an employee in the building costs roughly 50% more than that employee’s salary. There is the cost of the building, the utilities to run it, the multiple taxes, the cost of regulation compliance (let alone the fees for the privilege of complying), and this doesn’t even scratch the surface. Most small businesses operate on a profit margin of 10% or less. This means that for every dollar that goes into the cash register it costs the owner 90 cents. That left over dime is typically sunk back into the business for expansion, new equipment, building improvements, new employees, etc. When Government legislates a cost increase, when hydro rates go through the roof, when wages get a legislated increase, it leaves a business owner with very few options, and only 10 cents to solve the problem. Suffice it to say that, unless you’ve sat in the chair of a small business owner and faced the responsibility of mounting expenses, you shouldn’t judge, and if you are an elected official, you should make decisions based purely on evidence. policy, not politics. [email protected]  A double whammy or a one-two punch - that’s what businesses are facing in Ontario with two significant public policy changes at play provincially and federally. It’s a challenging time to be in business in Ontario with the potential impact and ripple effect of these changes creating a lot of uncertainty.
Provincially, Bill 148 the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act is forcing businesses to look at their business model and make tough decisions such as fewer hours, fewer jobs and consideration of automation. “Too much; too soon” has been the mantra from the business community throughout the summer, since the announcement of proposed sweeping labour and employee relations changes. But this response is not in a vacuum. There are three recent studies that are now part of the conversation and they present the same concerns as business owners. The latest updated report from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and CANCEA shows that extending the time frame of the minimum wage increase over five years will result in 75% fewer jobs at risk. The CANCEA study also finds that Ontario’s 400,000 small businesses (those with less than 100 employees) are exposed to 46% of the increased costs associated with the Act. While the economic analysis indicates the province will see an economic boost of $11 billion in wage stimulus in the next two years, there will remain a $12 billion cost for business to absorb. A recent report from TD Economics says “the relatively rapid speed of the implementation and its timing within the economic cycle are two factors that will likely accentuate the negative hit to Ontario employment.” It goes on to say that they are expecting “a net reduction in jobs of around 80-90,000 positions by the end of the decade” and that “these estimated impacts could be mitigated by extending the implementation timeline.” The Financial Accountability Office has also weighed in on the impacts of Bill 148, raising some new points in the discussion:
Add to the commentary the multitude of remarks from businesses themselves and there is an overwhelming message of concern. From its own members, the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce gathered up 15 pages worth of comments and sent them to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. This document shows a consistent message from all sectors of the business community as to the impacts of the speed of implementation of Bill 148. “Small businesses are telling us the tools they have to work with are limited, and include fewer hours, fewer jobs, delayed expansions, and closing for the winter months,” says Stuart Harrison, President & CEO, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce. “Some have even speculated they’ll be forced out of business entirely…” Offsets for businesses, to help with the transition this legislation will require, are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The hope is that these offsets, which our counterparts at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce have been speaking to government about, are offered using tools such as the tax system to make it easy for business to access and complete. Offsets in the form of grants will only add to the regulatory burden facing small businesses in our community. Add to this provincial legislation new proposed corporate tax changes at the federal level. These proposed tax changes present serious concerns for incorporated businesses in how passive income is dealt with, along with the ability to pass a business on to the next generation and income sprinkling. Both levels of government are creating a negative message about business. Considering the feedback from the business community, this is a dangerous gamble. With over 400,000 small businesses in Ontario alone this group is truly the backbone of our provincial and federal economy, creating jobs and investing in the social fabric of our communities. Understanding their needs and ability to adjust to regulatory burden, market pressures locally, provincially, nationally and internationally is key to finding a balance that works for everyone. To learn more: Peterborough Chamber Advocacy Page on Bill 148  Final analysis of Bill 148 reveals $12 billion economic problem that the Ontario Government must resolve Peterborough, ON, Wednesday, September 27, 2017 - Today, the Peterborough Chamber, in collaboration with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) and the Keep Ontario Working (KOW) Coalition released two major reports that broadly capture the challenges associated with Bill 148 and the concerns of the employer community.
The first report is the final economic impact analysis of Bill 148 by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis’ (CANCEA), which was peer-reviewed by Professor Morley Gunderson of the University of Toronto. CANCEA’s analysis reveals that if Government were to do nothing other than implement the minimum wage increase over five years instead of in the next 15 months, jobs at risk would decrease by 74 per cent in the first two years. The analysis also indicates that while the proposed changes will see $11 billion in wage stimulus flow into the economy in the next two years, a remaining $12 billion problem exists which will lead to jobs lost, added costs, and general damage to the Ontario economy. “Today’s final report by CANCEA is clear, while the Government is correct to say that there will be a stimulus from Bill 148, it does not cover the $23 billion cost challenge for business in the first two years – a substantial amount that poses great risk to our economy and cannot be resolved through offsets alone,” said Karl Baldauf, Vice President of Policy and Government Relations at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. “More must be done. The Ontario Government must resolve the economic challenges presented in Bill 148 through a combination of slowing down the implementation period, amending the legislation, and offsets. Business and Government must work together to avoid unintended consequences and protect our most vulnerable.” The Keep Ontario Working Coalition and CANCEA released interim findings of this Analysis in August, ahead of final amendments being submitted for first reading of the legislation. To date, CANCEA’s work remains the only peer-reviewed economic analysis of Bill 148. In having been reviewed by Morley Gunderson, the work has benefited from one of the leading economists in Canada, who the Ontario Government has turned to on multiple occasions, such as during the Changing Workplaces Review which became the foundation for Bill 148. “Our risk assessment of the Act is that there is more risk than reward for Ontarians despite the stated goal of the legislation in helping Ontario’s more vulnerable and the Ontario economy,” Paul Smetanin, President of CANCEA. “Given the risk of consolidating income and wealth inequality, putting about 185,000 people out of work, and the risks of small/medium businesses being exposed to their larger competitors, the unintended consequences are significant.” In addition, the Keep Ontario Working coalition released a second report, The Flip Side of “Fair”, which showcases testimonials from employers and outline how they will be impacted by the legislation. The report gives a voice to those businesses who have felt excluded from the committee process and policy discussion around this legislation. The testimonials all share a common theme, that the minimum wage increase and labour reforms will have serious consequences for their business and their communities. “I am an owner of three automotive oil change service stations, which I purchased for a significant amount. I employ 29 employees at my three stores. All are hardworking and live in the communities we serve. We were on track to grow locations and further invest but for many reasons this new proposed legislation has put a stop to our plans. At our average wage, our labour percentage to sales is 32 percent. With the proposed changes, we would see this rise to 40 percent of sales. This is just not feasible to absorb. That leaves us with no option but to raise prices to adjust to the increase. The 16% increase in just basic wages means our prices will need to increase by at least 22% to manage this proposal properly. My wife and I purchased the business on a set of income statements that had labour at a certain percent. Now that labour will jump, my business valuation will be reduced by 4 times that amount. Overnight, the government has de-valued my business. Bill 148 will impact financing thresholds and deter new entrepreneurs from purchasing existing businesses.” - Owner, three local oil change stations The KOW Coalition will continue to advocate that the government:
CANCEA FINAL REPORT The Flip Side of “Fair” For more on Peterborough Chamber advocacy on Bill 148 The Keep Ontario Working Coalition (KOW) is a broad-spectrum group of business sector representatives concerned with sound public policy to help produce jobs and grow Ontario. For more information please visit www.keepontarioworking.ca. Members include: Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services (ACSESS) Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC) Food and Beverage Ontario (FBO) National Association of Canada Consulting Businesses (NACCB Canada) Ontario Restaurant, Hotel and Motel Association (ORHMA) Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA) Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) Restaurants Canada Retail Council of Canada (RCC) Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) MEDIA CONTACT: Sandra Dueck, Policy Analyst/Communications Specialist Peterborough Chamber of Commerce [email protected] 705.748.9771 x215  In a world of back to school and back to your regular work schedule after the summer of 2017, Members of Provincial Parliament return to the legislature to begin work on the fall session. It’s a session that will be under the watchful eye of the business community as Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act moves through the legislative process.
Over the past number of months the business community has pushed back on the government’s proposed legislation around minimum wage, scheduling, vacation and sick pay, and rules around forming unions, calling the sweeping changes “too much, too soon.” In isolation, these changes could be manageable, but for many small businesses, even those paying above the minimum wage currently, the combination of new requirements could be too much to overcome. As we get closer to the end of the year, businesses are still left not knowing if these changes will go through on January 1st as designed or if the call to slow down the process will be heeded. In mid-August the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Keep Ontario Working coalition released an economic analysis on the proposed changes. “The results of the economic analysis reinforce the concerns of fewer hours, fewer jobs that were presented at a roundtable we held with local businesses and Jeff Leal, the Minister Responsible for Small Business in mid-June,” says Stuart Harrison, President & CEO, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce. ”Bill 148 is too much, too soon and the uncertainty it presents to business has the potential to have significant impact.” In their comments to the Peterborough Chamber, several businesses have said their expansion plans are on hold as they come to terms with how the multitude of changes in Bill 148 will affect their business in a very quick time frame. While other businesses have indicated the changes will force them to reconsider how they run their operations, the number of students they will be able to hire, or work within budgets. So to recap what are some of the changes that will have the most impact?
Commentary on Bill 148 continues to be very important and we ask our member businesses if you haven’t already, tell us and your elected leaders how these changes will impact your business. Email the Chamber: [email protected] Write your MPP and cc the Premier: Honourable Jeff Leal, Minister Responsible for Small Business [email protected] Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario [email protected]  To date there has only been one study done on the proposed impacts of Bill 148, the controversial bill proposing changes to numerous labour laws and a $15 minimum wage. That study was released earlier this week by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Keep Ontario Working Coalition. Proponents of the proposed
legislation have been quoting other research from other communities, but the time has come to focus on Ontario and try to determine what these changes will mean for our economy and our communities. The government has not been willing to complete an economic analysis on the proposed changes under Bill 148. The study released this week was conducted by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis (CANCEA). CANCEA has done a significant amount of work on the issues addressed, including work for multiple Ministries within the Provincial Government. They do not accept research funding that requires a pre-determined result, and the design and methodology of this study was determined solely by CANCEA. Their findings include:
“The results of the economic analysis reinforce the concerns of fewer hours, fewer jobs that were presented at a roundtable we held with local businesses and Jeff Leal, the Minister Responsible for Small Business in mid-June,” says Stuart Harrison, President & CEO, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce. ”Bill 148 is too much, too soon and the uncertainty it presents to business has the potential to have significant impact.” Several businesses in their comments to us have said their expansion plans are on hold as they come to terms with how the multitude of changes in Bill 148 will affect their business in a very quick time frame. Simply put, the time frame for implementation of the changes to minimum wage, sick days, vacation days, scheduling and unionization is too fast. This bill is still going through the legislative process and would only become official sometime in October. There is also a 20 cent increase to minimum wage scheduled for October 1st. That gives businesses only two or three months to make adjustments. The argument keeps arising that increasing the minimum wage in this quick time frame will reduce the need for social services programs and, from the Premier herself, that more money will be circulating in the economy. This too calls for more evidence-based thinking: How many people will have less dependence on social services programs? How will the government reinvest the savings? By what percentage can businesses expect their sales to go up with all this new money being pumped into local economies? Proponents have been citing examples such as BC and Alberta, that are increasing their minimum wage. However, neither jurisdiction is making a $3.40 jump in 14 months. In BC, the increase was at 75 cent intervals from May 1, 2011 to May 1, 2012 for a total increase of $2.25 to $10.25. Then in September of 2015, BC minimum wage went up $.20 to $10.45, in September 2016 it went to $10.85 and next month it will go up $.50 to $11.35. The increase in Alberta has been on a three-year trajectory of $1.00 in 2016, $1.40 in 2017, and another $1.40 in October of 2018. Those increases are based on research that a gradually increasing minimum wage has little impact on employment levels. That said, colleagues in Alberta tell us that the jump from $12.20 to $13.60 is a great concern for businesses in that province and that there will be some hard choices made. In Seattle, where they have reached $15, a recent study revealed that those individuals the minimum wage increase was supposed to benefit are actually taking home $125 less per month. "As for the economists who publicly supported the move to $15 in a letter recently, 30 of them aren’t even from Ontario, the letter has zero reference to an appropriate time frame for such an increase, none of them have ever had to make payroll, and their findings don’t match what we are being told by local small business owners. Business owners who know what it means to employ people,” adds Harrison. To suggest that there are only positive impacts from the changes in this legislation is to willfully ignore the impact of a whole bank of constituents. All legislation has pros and cons and fully understanding the impact has never been more important. A responsible government means being fair to all constituents under its guard – especially when one group is bearing the weight and full responsibility of any proposed changes.  Independent Economic Impact Analysis reinforces the concerns of Peterborough businesses around Bill 148 Bill 148 will put 185,000 jobs at risk in Ontario and increase the cost of consumer goods and services by $1,300 per household starting in 2018, according to new analysis by leading economics firm PETERBOROUGH, Monday, August 14 - Today the Keep Ontario Working Coalition (KOW), in partnership with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) and the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce released the first and only independent economic impact analysis of Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces Better Jobs Act. Conducted by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis (CANCEA), the study revealed that if the legislation is implemented as currently drafted, there will be significant, sudden and sizable uncertainty for Ontario jobs, economy and communities.
The study also shows that small businesses are likely to be affected five times more than larger business. “The results of the economic analysis presented today reinforce the concerns that were presented at a roundtable we held with local businesses and the Minister Responsible for Small Business in mid-June,” says Stuart Harrison, President & CEO, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce. ”Bill 148 is too much, too soon and the uncertainty it presents to business has the potential to have significant impact.” In the regional analysis of impact, CANCEA predicts that just over 2.7% of jobs in Peterborough will be at risk, which is above average when compared to other areas of the province. They say the impact depends on demographics and industry in each region. “The changes presented in Bill 148 will have dramatic unintended consequences that include putting 185,000 jobs at risk and seeing everyday consumer goods and services increase by $1,300 for each and every family in Ontario,” said Karl Baldauf, Vice President of Policy and Government Relations at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and spokesperson for the Keep Ontario Working Coalition. “We’ve run the numbers, if the Ontario government chooses to proceed with these sweeping reforms too quickly, all of us will be affected, and the most vulnerable in our society chief among them.” CANCEA was commissioned by the KOW coalition to measure the potential impacts of six key areas of change in Bill 148, including changes to minimum wages, “equal pay” provisions, vacation, scheduling, personal emergency leave (PEL) and unionization. Data from the economic impact analysis shows:
“Simple accounting reveals that the Act creates a $23 billion challenge for Ontario businesses over two years. Annualized, this is 21 per cent of what Ontario businesses invest in capital,” Paul Smetanin, President, CANCEA. “Given the significant, sudden and sizable changes it would be remiss to expect that unintended consequences would not follow.” “Given the scale of impact and pace of change, it will be impossible for the provincial government to make businesses, even small businesses, whole through offsets,” added Baldauf. “With amendments to the first reading of Bill 148 due this Wednesday, the legislation will need to see serious change including an adjusted timeline for implementation.” Since Bill 148 was introduced in June, the KOW coalition has called on the government to conduct an economic impact analysis to fully understand how the legislation will change Ontario’s economy. With the government unwilling to do so, the report released today represents the first and only independent economic impact analysis of this legislation. For more details on the economic analysis, click visit keepontarioworking.ca - 30 - About the Keep Ontario Working Coalition: The Keep Ontario Working Coalition (KOW) is a broad-spectrum group of business sector representatives concerned with sound public policy to help produce jobs and grow Ontario. For more information please visit www.keepontarioworking.ca. Members include: Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services (ACSESS) Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC) Food and Beverage Ontario (FBO) National Association of Canada Consulting Businesses (NACCB Canada) Ontario Restaurant, Hotel and Motel Association (ORHMA) Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA) Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) Restaurants Canada Retail Council of Canada (RCC) Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) About CANCEA: CANCEA is a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research organization that is dedicated to objective, independent and evidence based analysis. They have a long history of providing holistic and collaborative understanding of the short- and long-term risks and returns behind policy decisions and prosperity. For more, go to cancea.ca. For media inquiries please contact: Sandra Dueck, Policy Analyst/Communications Specialist Peterborough Chamber of Commerce [email protected] 705.748.9771 x215 Peterborough Chamber of Commerce makes Written submission to Committee Hearings on Bill 1487/24/2017  PETERBOROUGH, July 24, 2017: The Peterborough Chamber of Commerce has sent in a written submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs on Bill 148.
Since the announcement of the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, many of our Chamber members have expressed concerns about the pace at which this legislation is being implemented and the impact on the economic growth of Peterborough and the province. “Under the proposed Bill 148, this group of constituents is facing a dramatic increase in staffing costs over the next 18 months,” says Stuart Harrison, President & CEO, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce. “These costs are not alone related to the proposed minimum wage increase and have caused businesses to consider the impact and how they will stay afloat.” We took the concerns of our local employers and have submitted them to the provincial government along with a list of recommendations that our Peterborough business community put forward. “The recommendations stem from conversations and a roundtable the Peterborough Chamber held with 24 businesses from all sectors of the Peterborough economy,” adds Harrison. “They focus on the need for more time to adapt, as well as, providing sector-specific relief, and considering other ways to achieve the desired outcome.” We thank our member businesses for providing their comments and adding their voice to this conversation. As the cover letter to the report states, “employers and employees have to band together to make the economy work.” Read the Report: The Impact of Bill 148  The hearings on Bill 148 Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act started this week. Monday saw the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs in Thunder Bay. Today, the committee will be in Kingston. Several Peterborough groups will be presenting, along with our Chamber counterparts at the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce.
Earlier this week we supported a letter to the Premier from the Keep Ontario Working Coalition, which includes the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and 12 other business groups and associations. Our Peterborough Chamber message to the Committee echoes that of the letter and the concern of our members, 93% of whom are small business. It’s simply that the changes contained in the proposed legislation will be difficult to absorb and adjust to in such a short time frame. “Recently, a roundtable with 24 businesses from all sectors of the Peterborough economy expressed that the changes were too much, too fast,” says Stuart Harrison, President & CEO, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce. “Businesses need time to adapt and have told us that without time, they are forecasting fewer hours, fewer new jobs, increased prices and, in some cases, more automation.” As it stands now, Ontario’s minimum wage will increase by 32 per cent in only 18 months, with the bulk of that increase happening in the next six months. This particular element of Bill 148 means businesses will have to absorb between $30,000 and $100,000 per year depending on the number of employees. However, the adjustment to minimum wage, which was not a part of the two year Changing Workplaces Review, is not the only concern. Other pieces of the legislation, such as the 48 hour rule, also bring challenges in industry sectors important to the Peterborough region, such as agriculture and tourism. Broad sweeping rules do not recognize the unique aspects of these industries and the mostly small and medium-sized businesses that operate within them. Over the past number of weeks there has been great discussion about how the $15/hour wage is impacting other communities and particularly large cities, such as Seattle, in the United States. However, in comparison to the quick timeline proposed for Ontario, many of these jurisdictions have been on five year trajectories and even then there is great debate about whether or not the desired outcomes have truly been achieved. For example, the State of California is taking five years to increase their minimum wage by 50 per cent to $15/hour with employers of less than 25 employees. Seattle has allowed for a 4-year implementation for a 36 per cent wage increase. However, recent evidence by the National Bureau of Economic Research has suggested that the costs of the Seattle minimum wage increases outweigh the benefits by 3:1. In that instance, low-wage workers are losing $125 per month due to less hours of work scheduled. “To demonstrate true fairness and compassion for workers, we must ensure Ontario has a strong economy to help create jobs and increase economic growth,” said Karl Baldauf, Vice President of Policy and Government Relations at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) and Spokesperson for the Keep Ontario Working Coalition. Throughout the past two years of the Changing Workplaces Review the Chamber Network called for a balanced approach to change. Achieving that balance includes slowing down the time frame for implementation, and understanding the economic impact of the proposed changes to businesses across sectors, and by size and location (rural/urban). The Keep Ontario Working Coalition has commissioned an independent economic analysis of the impact of these proposed changes on the economy. The results are expected in August. Sure, we can make some preliminary recommendations around mitigation strategies, but without taking the time to understand all the potential ripple effects of Bill 148 and its quick implementation those strategies may not be as effective as hoped. Being able to look at both sides of the equation is prudent to ensure Ontario’s continued competitiveness. Recent letter to Premier Wynne from the Keep Ontario Working Coalition |
AuthorThe Peterborough Archives
January 2018
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