Thinking about Minimum Wage Increases in Alberta: Theoretically, Empirically, and Regionally

After weighing the lessons of economic theory and real-world experience, a leading Alberta economist, Joseph Marchand, concludes that Alberta’s move to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2018 could lead to the loss of roughly 25,000 jobs. In a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute, Thinking about Minimum Wage Increases in Alberta: Theoretically, Empirically, and Regionally, Marchand recommends that Alberta, being a boom and bust economy, would be better off taking current and future economic conditions into account when considering any future increases to its minimum wage.