Raising the bar

At the same time, a survey of the literature indicates that the minimum wage is on the rise around the world. [...] Way forward Although the Minimum Wage Advisory Panel’s recommendations fell short of suggesting a benchmark for the minimum wage, the panel suggested in Raising the Bar 7 the conclusion to its final report that pivoting to a high-wage strategy, com- plete with a robust minimum wage, is a necessary policy move. [...] Raising the Bar 9 The Ontario Minimum Wage Advisory Panel is struck In Ontario, the government responded to growing pressure to raise the min- imum wage by striking the Minimum Wage Advisory Panel in 2013. [...] With a mandate to examine the province’s policy on the minimum wage and pro- vide advice on how to determine minimum wage increases in the future, the panel set out to consult the public and scan the literature for the best policy approaches to minimum wage legislation. [...] Still others preferred the $10.25 status quo, yielding only to the sugges- tion that any increases to the minimum wage should be tied to inflation to maintain the current real value of the minimum wage.