A recent study has revealed that inhabitants of Metro Vancouver require a minimum hourly wage of $27.05 to sustain a decent standard of living, marking a 5.3% hike from the previous year. The wage estimation, carried out by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, BC Office, and Living Wage BC, is based on the amount both parents in a family of four should earn per hour considering the cost of living in a given community.
Unfortunately, the current minimum wage in British Columbia stands at $17.40 per hour. The study further discovered that about half a million workers, constituting 37% of all salaried employees in Metro Vancouver, earn less than the considered living wage.
Anastasia French, the provincial manager at Living Wage BC, explained to Global News that a living wage allows a worker to cover basic needs such as food and rent. She also noted a significant variation in the living wage depending on the residents’ location, ranging from $20.81 in Grand Forks, the lowest in B.C., up to $28 in Whistler. However, the majority of B.C.’s population resides in Metro Vancouver.
French pointed out that the constant increase in housing and food costs has rendered many workers unable to afford these essentials. Although the government has initiated financial relief measures like affordable childcare programs to counter these escalating costs, the study found that these efforts are overshadowed by rising rents.
Iglika Ivanova, a senior economist at the B.C. office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the report’s lead author, stated that rent has been the most costly item in the Metro Vancouver living wage family budget since the calculation began in 2008, and this year has been no exception.
Shelter expenses for a family in Metro Vancouver surged by 9.5% this year, translating to an additional $276 per month. Metro Vancouver’s living wage is the province’s third highest, after Whistler and Clayoquot Sound, which stand at $28.89 and $27.42 per hour, respectively.
French acknowledged that $27 might seem an excessively high wage for many employers. However, she advises them to consider the benefits they offer, which could make the living wage more achievable. In the Interior, Kelowna’s living wage has risen by 4.76% from 2023, now standing at $25.77.
