Home rental costs biggest driver of P.E.I.'s increased livable wage, says report

Advocacy groups say many on P.E.I. aren't making a livable wage, and that's causing Islanders to make a tough choices about rent and groceries.

A new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says the livable wage is now $22.76, and many Islanders are struggling to make that hourly rate. In 2020, the centre calculated the living wage at $19.30.

A livable wage is the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs.

The group said housing was the biggest reason the figure has gone up. According to the report, apartment rents on the Island increased by an average of 17 per cent over the last four years.

"It's an increase that is not sustainable for a lot of people," said Cory Pater, who's with the P.E.I. Fight for Affordable Housing.

"People who are making minimum wage, it's a huge strain on things.... We hear from people all the time who have to cut back on or give up meals just to have enough money in their bank account to make rent."

Some people are paying over 30 per cent of their income for rent, but that should be about 25 per cent, Pater said. He's heard of renters paying 50 per cent of their income to keep a roof over their heads.

"It's cutting into peoples' heating, really basic stuff, and people shouldn't have to sacrifice their basic needs for another basic need, in this case shelter," he said.

Pater thinks the P.E.I. government should purchase apartment buildings that are already for sale, then turn them into provincial housing where tenants can pay rent based on a percentage of their income.

Basic income guarantee 'a no-brainer'

Hannah Bell, a former Green MLA who sat on a special committee on poverty, said she's seen rental costs increase by 50 per cent for some.

"We don't actually monitor all rental increases, they are not all reported," Bell said.

"What it tells us is the law is not being followed or applied, and renters are the ones who are suffering."

Bell said rent controls need to be tightened and enforced to prevent illegal increases, and the threshold to access some social programs needs to be increased.

The special poverty committee she sat on made recommendations to the government that included raising the minimum wage and implementing a basic income guarantee.

"We're way past the point of needing another [basic income guarantee] pilot, there have literally been hundreds around the world, including in Canada," Bell said.

"We don't need to check if giving more money to people in poverty helps. It's a no-brainer. What we need to do is be brave and take the steps to do it." 

Mary Boyd, a co-ordinator with P.E.I.'s MacKillop Centre for Social Justice, believes in a basic job guarantee — a federal employment program administered locally that provides basic job opportunities with wages and benefits.

"The trouble is we have a business cycle and we go from a boom to a recession to a really bad depression to a recovery, and on it goes," Boyd said.

"With a job guarantee, it's reciprocal. You get these wages, which you deserve. It benefits you, it benefits your community, but also it produces wealth that goes back into the community."

Boyd, Pater and Bell all agree that P.E.I.'s minimum wage needs to go up, even though some business owners often challenge such increases.

"If you can't afford to pay your workers a livable wage, then you can't afford to be in business," Bell said.

The province is increasing the minimum wage from $15.40 to $16 an hour in October. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report suggests all provincial governments increase their minimum wage to $20 an hour as soon as possible.

CBC News asked officials with the Department of Workforce and Advanced Learning for an interview, but no one was made available prior to publication.