Manitoba’s minimum wage is going up Wednesday.

The lowest hourly wage will increase from $10.45 to $10.70, which is a 2.4 per cent increase.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said the hike will make it hard for small companies to create jobs.

“When the cost per worker goes up, the only way to mitigate that is through less staff,” said Elliot Sims, CFIB’s Manitoba Director of Provincial Affairs.

45 per cent of minimum wage earners work for businesses with less than 100 employees.

Sims said a training wage for new employees would help offset the increasing cost of labour. New workers would make less than minimum for a set period of time, until they’re trained and ready to make the full wage.

According to Statistics Canada, 60 per cent of minimum wage earners are young people aged 15-24. Many of them are holding part-time jobs while getting a post-secondary education.

“The provincial government continues to increase the cost of hiring entry level workers, many of whom are youth, without realizing businesses have a finite amount of resources to pay them,” said Sims. “That means fewer entry level jobs and, unfortunately, less income and higher student debts for the youth that usually fill those positions.”

Since 2005, the minimum wage rate has increased 48 per cent while inflation increased by 18 per cent.