A 6.9 per cent minimum wage hike mandated by the B.C. government is “unsustainable” for some businesses, when stacked on all other costs downloaded onto business, say a number of business groups.

As of June 1, the B.C. government is raising the minimum wage from $15.65 to $16.75 per hour, the province announced Wednesday.

"Having a minimum wage that keeps up with inflation is a key step to prevent the lowest paid workers from falling behind," B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains said in a statement. "These workers and their families feel the impacts of high costs much more than anyone else. We are maintaining our policy of tying the minimum wage to inflation."

But the 6.9 per cent increase actually exceeds inflation, according to the Surrey Board of Trade, which pointed out the consumer price index is 6.2 per cent for B.C. and 5.2 per cent for Canada.

“The Surrey Board of Trade is disappointed that such a significant minimum wage increase was announced today, leading to further unsustainable cost increases for businesses,” said Surrey Board of Trade CEO Anita Huberman.

“Such a significant increase in minimum wage should have been discussed last year with the business community, especially in the face of other unprecedented increases in taxes and fees from other levels of government.”

“B.C. small businesses are feeling the pinch of inflationary pressures, on top of other cost increases from governments,” said the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

“The 6.9 per...

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