Living wage increases across B.C., reaches $27/hr in Metro Vancouver, says economic think tank

The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). 

In Metro Vancouver, the living wage is now $27.05 an hour, up 5.3 per cent compared to the 2023 report. The Fraser Valley saw a 12.44 per cent increase, while the Columbia Valley's living wage went up 1.19 per cent. 

It's the all-around increase that has the report's authors calling on employers to offer a living wage in their respective communities and on all levels of government to push forward with cost-saving measures for British Columbians. 

The living wage, according to the CCPA, is the hourly rate that each of two parents working full-time needs to make in order to support a family of four in their community.

It does not take into account debt, home ownership or saving for retirement or children's post-secondary education. 

According to the report, people living in Whistler have the highest living wage; they need to earn $28.09 per hour to meet their basic needs. The lowest living wage in the province is $20.81 an hour in the community of Grand Forks. 

As of June 1, the minimum wage across B.C. is $17.40 per hour. 

Nearly half a million workers, about 37 per cent of all paid employees in Metro Vancouver, earn less than the living wage, the CCPA says.

"Sky-high" rents, child-care costs, grocery prices and transit all contribute to driving up the living wage, according to the report. 

"A trend that we're seeing across the province, we have seen unfortunately for many, many years, is that housing costs continue to increase," report author and Living Wage B.C. provincial manager Anastasia French said.

The latest annual rental report from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, released in January, found that the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Vancouver was $2,181 — the highest in Canada. The only other B.C. city covered in the report, Victoria, was the third highest in the country, at $1,839. 

But housing isn't the only thing bringing up the living wage, French said.

In Kamloops, B.C., families need two cars to get around town due to a lack of public transit options, French said. 

The report authors say they consulted census data that showed 85 per cent of residents drive themselves to work. 

"The other thing we did was we spoke to people in Kamloops about what the situation was and they told us that realistically you do need to have a car to get around," French told CBC's Daybreak Kamloops guest host Doug Herbert.

The report authors actually had to change the way they calculated the living wage for Kamloops in this year's numbers because of this, French said, and the change resulted in a 13.3 per cent increase to the city's living wage. 

B.C. Transit said in a statement to CBC News that while it tries to provide safe, reliable public transit, the demand for transit is growing in Kamloops. The Crown corporation says it is expanding service hours in the 2024/2025 fiscal year.

Call for change

While good transit and lower housing costs would help, the report calls on employers to increase their wages and benefits, and on government to implement policies that address the cost of living.  

"We call on governments at all levels to double their efforts on affordability essentially or tackling the affordability crisis," report author Iglika Ivanova said.

"We need more affordable housing. We need to move towards that $ 10-a-day child care that is still elusive for most people. We need to also look at the various government benefits that we provide."

In an emailed statement to CBC News, B.C. Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside said she had seen the living wage report and said the government has been, and will continue, working to improve the cost of living. 

"We know that people across the province are finding it difficult to make ends meet and there is more work for government to do," Whiteside said.

She pointed to raising the minimum wage, capping vehicle insurance and eliminating MSP premiums as ways the NDP government has helped so far.

During and after the election campaign, Premier David Eby has repeatedly said that affordability is his government's primary focus. 

The NDP has promised an annual tax cut of about $1,000 for households and $500 for individuals. The party also pledged to continue increasing the minimum wage based on inflation.