CAN (ON): Growers lament high hydro rates, increased labour costs
The 40-year-old farmer and entrepreneur says his company — The Pickle Station, located about 300 kilometres west of Toronto — has been hit hard by sky-high hydro rates and a recent increase in minimum wage.
When VanRoboys took over from his father in 2008, he says his hydro bill during the peak month of operation, August, was roughly $18,000. Fast forward to August 2017 and the bill for that same period was $42,000.
On top of that, the province's decision to increase the minimum wage to $14 an hour has forced his business, which employs more than 200 local students during the busy harvesting months of July and August, to cut back on smaller, hand-picked cucumber varieties typically sold to U.S. companies.
VanRoboys says he explained to the American companies that he would need to increase prices to cope with higher labour costs — as the Liberal government had advised businesses to do — but was told that wouldn't be accepted.
Whoever wins the provincial election on June 7, VanRoboys says they need to delay the next increase in minimum wage — planned to reach $15 an hour in January — to make it easier for businesses to adapt.
Read more at The Reminder (Shawn Jeffords)