Business leaders fear 'cost increases' ahead of B.C. minimum wage increase
The bigger picture
Yunis emphasized that wage increases don’t happen in isolation, but interact with other policies around wages, taxes, and hiring incentives.
He wants the government to focus on measures that attract companies to B.C. and kickstart private sector activity, which could improve wages and create more entry-level jobs.
Private sector investment and hiring have been “weak,” he said. Since 2019, private sector employment growth has been seven per cent, compared to 34 per cent for public sector employment growth.
“And that actually is where the government should turn their focus to,” he said.
He said B.C.’s goal should be to create an economy that is conducive to higher wages and investment, thus attracting more companies and creating more jobs.
Yunis said that policies that affect wages, taxes, and hiring incentives all interact with each other.
While there have been a number of major projects in B.C. in recent years, like the Site C Dam, there hasn’t been a lot of private sector activity since. Yunis said this has exposed some of the province’s economic flaws.
“We have a very uncompetitive PST that taxes capital investment, that taxes business inputs.”
Further, he added that B.C. businesses cannot claim an income tax credit (which they can do in other provinces), making B.C. uncompetitive for attracting new businesses.
Yunis said BCBC’s advice to the provincial government is to ensure conditions are right for businesses to invest and grow in the province, and remove barriers that “are hampering” private sector investment.
“Whether that’s tax competitiveness, whether that’s making sure that our regulatory regime is not onerous or it’s not slow,” he said. “And making sure that our fiscal situation is also stable and predictable.”