Living wage in Metro Vancouver and Victoria is now over $20/hour: report

The living wage for families in Metro Vancouver and Victoria have taken yet another jump since it was last calculated two years ago, according to a new report. 

The Living Wage for Families Campaign has found working people in Metro Vancouver would need to earn at least $20.52 an hour in order to meet the most basic costs of raising two children. In Victoria, the rate was less than 10 cents behind at $20.46.

"We've found the living wage has increased significantly higher than the rate of inflation, and that is largely driven by the huge increases in the cost of housing that families ... have experienced in recent years," said Anastasia French, operations organizer for the campaign.

The rate is calculated based on the cost of essentials like food, rent, childcare and transportation once government taxes, credits, deductions and subsidies have been taken into account.

The new rate in Metro Vancouver is an increase of roughly $1 an hour from 2019 and $6 an hour from 2010. (The campaign did not calculate a living wage for 2020 as the pandemic upended normal finances.)

The new living wage is also significantly higher than the minimum wage in B.C., which rose to $15.20 in June. French said the substantial gap means a minimum-wage worker would need to work an extra day each week or pick up a second job if they want to be able to make ends meet.

"That's a day a week they're not spending time with their family and focusing on their well-being," she said.

Steve Stromberg, who lives in Surrey, B.C., works as an operations manager with the Revive Washing pressure washing service, but earned less than the living wage at previous jobs.

"When I was earning more of a mininum wage, I definitley didn't have disposable income. I was very much paycheque to paycheque and having to borrow money from time to time to be able to get the essentials such as groceries or even gas in the vehicle to get to work." he told CBC's The Early Edition on Tuesday.

"Now, being a living wage employee ... I'm able to put my kids through childcare, extracurricular activities, sports activities — quality of life has improved at least two-fold, if not more."

LISTEN | French and Stromberg discuss the new living wage for Metro Vancouver:

The campaign calculated the living wage in 14 communities across the province. The report found minimum wage wasn't high enough for any of them.

Only Metro Vancouver and Victoria saw family expenses increase faster than the rate of inflation.

The province hasn't publicly announced any plans to raise the minimum wage any further, but French said advocates would "definitley welcome" any such news.