Today (October 1st) is a day a lot of small business owners in Airdrie and around the province haven't been looking forward to.   

The province is raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour from $13.60.  The Airdrie Chamber of Commerce, as a member of the Alberta Chamber of Commerce,  spent the last few months lobbying the government to not push forward with the increase.  

Marilyn Aalhus, the new Chamber Executive Director says that by no means does this mean they aren't in favour of letting people earn a better living,  however, as she points out, it may lead to many small business owners having to cut hours and benefits to workers in order to make ends meet.

"We obviously heard a lot from local businesses about the impact and how they will be struggling with this increase.  Just by speaking to some local business, it comes down to how are they going to look at their budget and how are they going to be able to maintain that budget.  So whether it be less staff hours, or possibly having to take away benefits from some staff.  There's definitely going to be an impact, particularly in small business.  It's going to be something that they really need to look at, they have been looking at it for the last several months and it's been a lot of stress for some local business."

Aalhus says the Airdrie Chamber is obviously in favour of the government's efforts to reduce poverty, but they feel they may not be going about it in the most effective way.

"It's just the minimum wage increases have obviously targetted a lot of those that are in need with a negative impact.  Unfortunately, it may come now to reducing hours for the individuals that are making more money, but now they're working fewer hours." 

The government says the increased minimum wage is good for the overall economy because every extra dollar that goes into the pockets of everyday Albertans gets invested back into the local economy.

Based on a 40 hour work week, someone making the increased minimum wage will now earn an additional $2,912 per year. 

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