LaSalle Council is being asked to approve a fee increase for some recreational programs in the town due to an increase in Ontario's minimum wage.
A report going to the Oct. 11 meeting of Council asks that recreation fees for programs taking place in 2023 increase by 10 per cent, beginning with winter program registration, which starts on Dec. 5, 2022.
The increase is being requested to cover increased costs as a result of a higher minimum wage.
In 2022, the minimum wage rate increased from $14.35 per hour to $15.00 per hour on Jan. 1, and again to $15.50 per hour effective Oct. 1, 2022.
Patti Funaro, Director of Culture and Recreation, saysthey've increased all of their part-time wages as a result.
"We're already incurring those costs and we do have registration for 2023 that begins in early December, so we wanted to make sure we're recovering those costs as soon as possible," she says.
In total, the report says minimum wage has increased by eight per cent since 2021.
Funaro says most of the programs impacted are those with part-time staff wages associated with them, those with an instructor like swimming.
"For example, on a swimming lesson, per lesson, you're looking at about 90-cents per lesson. So that over the course of the session is around $9 to $10 you'll see your overall costs go up," she says.
Funaro says they're looking to reduce the overall impact.
"We're only increasing the fees enough to cover the cost of wage increases. It's not that we're looking to make more revenue, it's to cover the costs of the wages we pay to our employees," she adds.
Examples of fees that would increase include swimming lesson registration fees, program registration fees and day camp registration fees to name a few.
Under changes to Ontario's minimum wage that took effect Oct. 1, students under 18 are now earning $14.60 per hour, up from $14.10, while homeworkers - those who do paid work out of their own homes for employers - are seeing a 55-cent raise, to $17.05 per hour.