Marie Burge thinks a lot of Island businesses could afford to pay their workers more.Marie Burge thinks a lot of Island businesses could afford to pay their workers more. (CBC)

Prince Edward Islanders continue to earn the lowest average wages in the country, according to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada.

Meanwhile, some other provinces are widening the gap, increasing their wages at a higher rate than P.E.I., the November figures show.

As it stands, almost 50 per cent of Islanders don't have enough income to cover their basic needs, said Marie Burge, a member of the PEI Working Group for a Livable Income.

"When policy makers talk about this issue, they often say, 'Well, it doesn't cost as much to live on P.E.I.' And we have the data, and we've produced it over and over again, which indicates it's quite expensive to live on P.E.I.," said Burge.

"It kind of makes me want to move away to a bigger city to find work," said Cody Au, a student at Holland College.

Fellow student Taylor Buell agrees. "The wages are very low, and as a student with the debt we'll walk out of college with, it's tremendous, so we have to find a way to pay that off quick."

November weekly wages

Wages Annual growth
Canada$883.96

2.2%

P.E.I.$740.841.6%
Nova Scotia$779.431.8%
Alberta$1,052.535.0%

The minimum wage on P.E.I. has caught up with the other provinces in the past couple of years - and even surpassed some of them, now sitting at $9.60 an hour with an anticipated increase to $10 an hour in April.

Still, Burge and her group believe a lot of Island businesses could afford to pay their workers more.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, however, thinks it's the provincial government that needs to step up and help by raising the amount Islanders can earn before they're taxed on their income.

Leanne Hachey, the vice-president for CFIB Atlantic, isn't surprised P.E.I's wages continue to lag behind other provinces.

The island's tourism- and agriculture-based economy simply isn't rebounding from the recession as quickly as some other provinces, such as Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, she said.

"Those are the three oil producing provinces. They've seen their wages skyrocket," said Hachey.

"The island isn't a resource-based economy, so its economy looks somewhat different and its wages are going to reflect that."

Statistics Canada's payroll report shows Islanders averaged $740.84 a week in wages in November, more than $100 less a week than the Canadian average of $883.96.

Nova Scotians had the next lowest income, and among the provinces, Albertans were earning the most.

P.E.I.'s wages did see growth over November 2010, but that growth was not keeping pace with the rest of the country. Wage growth on P.E.I. was 1.6 per cent, more than half a percentage point behind the national average.

Retail sale increase almost 9%

There was good economic news for Island retailers in November.

P.E.I. saw some of the biggest growth in retail sales in the country from November 2010 to November 2011, according to Statistics Canada.

Island sales rose 8.6 per cent, while nationally sales were up just 3.1 per cent.

The increase meant an extra $12 million in Island cash registers in November 2011 over November 2010.

Saskatchewan and the Yukon were the only two regions that saw greater retail growth over that period.