GTA workers must make minimum of $25 an hour for a living wage, report says
Workers in the Greater Toronto Area must now earn $25.05 per hour to make a living wage, according to a new report, an increase of about $2 when compared with the year before and far above the minimum wage in the province.
The Ontario Living Wage Network published its annual report Monday, about a month after Ontario increased the minimum wage across the province to $16.55.
“The rising cost of living impacts those at the bottom of the wage spectrum the most,” the report reads.
Even with the 6.8 per cent Ontario increase, “there is still no place in the province where someone could make ends meet working full-time at this wage,” it continues.
Among the expenses considered in the findings are shelter, food and transportation, as well as a modest vacation and “opportunities to engage in local culture and community.”
The living wage rate is a before-tax income, the report notes, averaged between wages needed for different family types: single adults, single parents, and families of four.
The report examines the cost of living in 10 regions, which were chosen based on Statistics Canada’s geographic concept of economic regions.
The GTA is the most expensive region to live in, followed by the Grey Bruce Perth Huron Simcoe region, where a living wage would have to be $22.75.
The cost of living has increased in Ottawa more than anywhere else in the province, the report says. A living wage there would now have to be $21.95.
The report continues to rank the regions from most to least expensive, with Dufferin Waterloo Guelph-Wellington next, followed by Hamilton in fifth place at $20.80.
East, Brant Niagara Haldimand Norfolk, North and London Elgin Oxford follow. The region commanding the lowest living wage is Southwest Ontario at $18.65 — still nearly $2 higher than the provinces’s general minimum wage.
Food and rent costs drive up the cost of living
Food and rental inflation is continuing to make life more expensive for Ontarians.
The report cites Canada’s Food Price Report 2023, which found the cost of food increased by more than 10 per cent in 2022, and is estimated to increase by 5 to 7 per cent this year.
It also used a “conservative estimate for rent” from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which includes data on units rented for multiple years as well as newly rented homes.
“Rapidly increasing rental costs over the past ten years have created a growing gap between the data collected by CMHC and current market rental rates,” the Ontario Living Wage Network notes.
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found workers must earn $40 to afford rent in Toronto
Another affordability estimate this year found workers must earn even more to live comfortably.
In July, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found the minimum wage would have to reach $40 an hour for Toronto workers to afford a two-bedroom apartment and still have money for food and utilities.
The report found nearly all Canadians working 40 hour weeks at minimum wage are spending more than 30 per cent of their pre-tax income on rent or mortgage costs.
This article was reported by The Star
