'Time-consuming and so exhausting': Restaurant owner fed up with minimum wage subsidy program
A local restaurant owner is speaking out over problems she's encountered applying for a provincial program aimed at helping small businesses offset the impact of the minimum wage hike.
Wendy May owns The Oakwood Café on Osborne Street.
After minimum wage jumped in October of 2022 from $11.95 to $13.50 per hour, she applied for the newly available provincial aid.
The subsidy program recently expanded its eligibility, and is now applicable to businesses with up to 100 employees who live and work in Manitoba. It covers a 50-cent/hour wage subsidy for up to 20 employees during a six-month period.
It's retroactive from Oct. 1 to March 31, 2023.
May said she has submitted her application seven times, detailing a tedious process of online paperwork that reset each time she was rejected.
“(Sunday) was kind of the final straw, where we knew we had done everything right because I spoke with someone who's doing the administration, and they went through everything with me. So we knew exactly what to do, exactly the information that had to be submitted,” May told CTV News Winnipeg in an interview.
Still, she received an email Sunday saying her application had been rejected.
May said she reached out to Families Minister Rochelle Squires and never heard back, and even went to the Maitoba Legislative Building to talk to newly appointed Labour Minister Jon Reyes, but couldn't get in to see him.
By Tuesday, she got a call saying her application had been approved.
“To be honest, the process has been so time-consuming and so exhausting. I don't know how people are persevering. I know we're not the only business that's having troubles accessing the funding that is available,” she said.
The province told CTV News Winnipeg its minimum wage adjustment program administration team is responsible for reviewing and verifying all documentation required to support an online application.
Each employer is required to submit a new application for each two-week pay period.
It noted applications will be rejected if the supporting documentation isn't complete or is missing information, but businesses can resubmit once that documentation has been obtained.
As of Tuesday, more than 1,500 online applications had been submitted.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
BREAKING Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
On federal budget, Macklem says 'fiscal track has not changed significantly'
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canada's fiscal position has 'not changed significantly' following the release of the federal government's budget.