HALIFAX: Nova Scotia’s 2025 minimum wage increase will pose significant challenges for its businesses and threaten the job stability of the 32,000 Nova Scotians they employ.
That’s if it does not come with real measures to help the industry, warns Restaurants Canada.
“The government made a commitment to small businesses in its election platform to lower the small business tax rate and HST. We need them to deliver on these commitments now if they want to impose higher costs,” said Janick Cormier, Vice President for Atlantic Canada at Restaurants Canada.
“With the threat of tariffs looming over us and the drastic cuts to immigration announced just two weeks ago, now is not the time to make operating a business even costlier.”
ADVERTISEMENT:
The restaurant industry is responsible for 4.7% of Nova Scotia’s GDP and is a significant contributor to the tourism product of the province.
However, more than half of restaurants (53%) are operating at a loss or just breaking even, up from 12% pre-pandemic.
They have seen increases of 20% or more on their insurance, food, utilities and labour costs already over the past two years.
Minimum wage increases put pressure on restaurants to raise wages for non-minimum wage staff and result in higher menu prices, making affordability even worse for Nova Scotians.
ADVERTISEMENT:
Many restaurants may also be forced to cut operating hours, reduce staff or even close their doors.
Restaurants Canada is calling on the Nova Scotia government to help the restaurant industry weather the minimum wage increase by:
- Immediately delivering on its election promise to reduce the small business tax rate by 1% and raise the threshold from $500K to $700K.
- Working with the federal government to make the HST holiday on restaurant meals permanent or at least extend it beyond the February 15 end date.
- Providing a minimum wage subsidy program to help restaurant employers transition, as was done in Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador previously.
“The last four years have been devastating for the foodservice industry, and we are facing significant challenges in 2025.
“Nova Scotians don’t want to see any more iconic local restaurants close their doors. It’s imperative that the provincial government help us mitigate this new cost,” concluded Cormier.
