The "trickle up effect," a new challenge stemming from the recent minimum wage increase.
The effect comes as employees who already made above minimum wage, ask for an increase to compensate for the smaller gap.
Professor Emeritus at the University of Windsor, Alfie Morgan says it's easy to criticize if you're not a business owner.
"Remember, it is not just that they have to pay for higher wages," says Morgan. "All the costs of their inputs are going up. If they're buying machinery, the machinery prices are going up, if they're buying material and parts, those prices are going up. So how much can a business handle before it breaks down?"
Morgan adds, a wage increase should mean the employee has to earn it.
"It is nice to raise the wages, but this has to be coupled with an increase in productivity," Morgan explains. " If we just give wages without paying attention to productivity, then the cost per unit from that employee is going to go up and this will result in increasing the price to the customer."
Minimum wage increased to $14 an hour on January 1st, up from $11.60.
— with files from AM800's Patty Handysides