Metro Vancouver’s living wage has soared past $25 per hour, rising more than $5 per hour from two years ago.
The living wage is now $25.68 per hour in Metro Vancouver, a 6.6% increase from last year. The figure was calculated by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in a report released Wednesday.
Based on a 37.5-hour workweek, that hourly figure would translate to a minimum annual salary of $49,408 to live in Vancouver.
Back in 2021, Metro Vancouver’s living wage was just $20.52.
The cost of living has risen steeply since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the average family in Metro Vancouver has to spend $4,000 more than last year for the same basket of goods, according to the CCPA.
“Although inflation has dropped from last year’s historic highs, the cost of living across BC continues to increase rapidly,” Iglika Ivanova, the CCPA-BC’s senior economist and report’s lead author, said in a news release.
Housing costs have spiked 16.6% since last year as interest rates rise and asking rent prices balloon. On average, residents in the region are forking over an additional $411 per month to keep a roof over their heads.
Food is also on the rise at nearly $70 more per month than last year.
The living wage is what two parents working full-time would need to earn per hour to support a family of four based on the cost of living in their community. It includes necessities such as food, shelter, childcare, transportation, non-covered healthcare costs, phone, internet, clothing, and $1,000 per month for the family’s social participation. It doesn’t include loan or debt payments, retirement savings, owning a home, or saving for a child’s future education.
There’s now nearly a $10 per hour gap between BC’s minimum wage of $16.75 per hour and the living wage of $25.68 per hour.
“People who work for low wages face impossible choices — buy groceries or heat the house, keep up with bills or pay rent on time,” the report says. “The result can be spiralling debt, constant anxiety, and long-term health problems.”
It bills the living wage calculation as a tool to ensure paid work results in a decent standard of living and enables people to live lives that are more than a constant struggle to get by.
Living wages around the province increased at similar rates to Metro Vancouver’s this year. Here’s where other communities stand:
Clayoquot Sound: $26.51
Columbia Valley: $22.63
Comox Valley: $22.02
Cowichan Valley: $25.20
Daajing Giids: $26.25
Dawson Creek: $20.64
Fraser Valley: $20.66
Golden: $25.78
Greater Victoria: 25.40
Kamloops: $20.91
Kelowna: $24.60
Nanaimo: $22.87
Nelson: $21.14
Powell River: $25.06
Prince George: $22.09
Revelstoke: $24.60
Sunshine Coast: $25.61
Trail: $21.55
source : Daily Hive photo :Freepik
