Living wage in Metro Vancouver up to $27.05

Metro Vancouver’s living wage has gone up by 5 per cent from last year.

Living Wage BC and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative work with communities around the province to calculate the hourly amount that a worker must earn to meet their basic expenses and avoid working poverty.

On Wednesday, the NGO announced that the amount for Metro Vancouver is now $27.05 per hour in 2024 — up from $25.68 in 2023.

Living Wage BC Provincial Manager Anastasia French tells CityNews that the main reason for the increase is the cost of food and housing. 

“The rental budget for the living wage family is up nine and a half per cent from last year,” French explained. 

“That’s the biggest increase in the budget. It’s also the biggest part of the budget. People are spending over 30 per cent of their income on rent, and so we really need to address housing affordability, because if we can bring down housing costs, we can bring down that living wage.”

She says it may sound like a high price, but 450 employers in B.C. are already committed to paying their employees a living wage. That promise, French says, has proven to be a valuable return on the investment.

“They found real benefits from doing so. They found the lower staff turnover. It increases retention, and it makes for a happier and more successful workforce.”

Metro Vancouver has the third highest living wage requirement in the province, second only to Tofino and Whistler ($28.09) — which French ascribed to tourism industries in those cities.

Along with pushing for housing affordability, French says Living Wage BC is asking the provincial government for improvements to transit, so working people aren’t as reliant on owning a vehicle, and to review access to benefits for “low-edge workers.”

For people without children, she says, the calculation actually increases to $27.35 — 30 cents higher than the base calculation, which is based on a family with two parents and two kids.

“Now that might come as a surprise to people. We all know children are expensive… but the reality is that families of kids get a lot of money in government benefits that are great,” French explained.

“But actually single people without children are the largest group of people living in poverty. And they get very limited amounts in government benefits, and that’s why their living wage is pretty similar, if not higher than the living wage for a family of four.”

In June, the B.C. government raised the provincial minimum wage to $17.40 per hour. In October, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom home in Vancouver was reported to be $2,700.

—With files from Cole Schisler and Angela Bower