The $0.75 increase in Ontario’s minimum wage at the end of March is receiving mixed reactions from students, business owners and economists.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour announced last week the provincial minimum wage is increasing to $10.25 an hour, as part of Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. The initiative “will reduce the number of children living in poverty by 25 per cent over five years,” the ministry said.

The impact of the increase will depend on who is already in the workforce and which businesses are hiring, according to Frances Woolley, a Carleton economics professor. “For people who have jobs, the increase in the minimum wage is going to be positive because they could expect to see their take home pay going up,” Woolley said.

“For people who don’t have jobs, the [increase] might . . . mean there’s less jobs out there.” Woolley said companies might cut costs by hiring fewer employees or switching from paid to unpaid breaks to keep labour costs down.

“Economists debate this a lot — does it actually make a difference to the number of jobs . . . when the minimum wage goes up? People haven’t agreed on it,” she said. Woolley also said the impact of the increase will depend on the different labour markets across Ontario. In Toronto, for example, where the cost of living tends to be higher and wages are already above the Ontario average, the increase will have less impact than in smaller communities with fewer job opportunities, she said.

“I think the big difference is not how much people want to work, but how much employers are prepared to hire,” Woolley said. Second-year psychology student Mike Ivankovic said with the increase, he might consider working more if he can find work.

“It’s only a $0.75 increase but [with] a couple more hours every week, by the end of the summer, it’s a good chunk of change,” Ivankovic said. “It’s not anything crazy like a trip to Cuba, but you can treat yourself to something you’d never be able to do before.”

Sheba Schmidt, owner of West End Kids, a small Ottawa business that sells waterproof outerwear and clothing for children, said her business employs six to eight students, and the increase in the minimum wage will not be good for her bottom line.

“I’m not happy about it,” she said. “We’re dealing with it and will be fine, but I can’t give the [wage] increases I normally would.”