Being a certified living wage employer means providing pay that reflects what people need to earn to cover the actual costs of living. Minimum wage, on the other hand, is the legislated minimum employers must pay and is set by the provincial government.

But the decision has not come without significant sacrifices. She has had to cut her staff to seven employees from 22 over the past year, and she and her sister, Rachel Beattie, who co-owns the business, have had to work long hours and take on extra jobs including deliveries and cleaning.

Jameson said she even had to cash in her “entire RRSP savings just to make sure we can pay rent into the new year.”

“Being a living wage employer has made it so that it’s impossible for me to maintain a staff of that size,” Jameson said. “We’ve had to downgrade and downsize the business as a result.”

The rising cost of living is creating challenges for employers like Jameson who have committed to paying their staff a living wage. There are more than 1,000 companies across Ontario, B.C. and Alberta who are certified living wage employers, according to the provinces’ respective Living Wage Network websites.

The concern for these companies is whether they will be able to continue paying a living wage with a looming recession on the horizon.

Many companies are “going to be facing challenges of staying in business while the demand for their product or service is reduced,” said Sheila Block, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Businesses are going to have to make the “necessary adjustments” to their “products, working hours and staffing levels,” Block added.

Workers in the Greater Toronto Area must now earn $25.05 per hour to make a living wage, according to a report from the Ontario Living Wage Network, published in November, a month after Ontario increased the minimum wage across the province to $16.55.

The living wage is calculated based on the needs of a family of four with two parents each working full-time, according to the Ontario Living Wage Network’s website.

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.

“Our calculation takes into account the expenses that a worker would have to cover, including shelter costs like rent, transportation, food, child care, high-speed internet access, food and clothing,” said Craig Pickthorne, a spokesperson for the Ontario Living Wage Network.

In Ontario, there are more than 800 businesses — including branches — that have pledged to pay their workers a living wage, Pickthorne said, and to remain certified they must keep up with increases every year.

Since 2016, about a dozen businesses in Ontario have not been able to meet living- wage requirements and have had to drop their certification, said Pickthorne.

Despite the current economic challenges facing most Canadian businesses, Pickthorne said certified living wage employers can prepare for wage increases ahead of time, as the network gives them several months to meet increases.

“That’s not to say it’s not a hardship,” Pickthorne said. “In places like Ottawa where (living wages) went up by 12 per cent and in Toronto where it went up by eight per cent, that’s not an insignificant financial burden, but it is possible … to maintain that commitment to a living wage.”

Block said that paying workers a living wage has positive impacts on businesses, including decreased employee turnover and better focus and commitment among staff, which can save money for employers in the long run.

“There are costs associated with turnover, including searching for and training new people and finding out whether they are a good fit,” Block said.

“People who can afford to pay the rent are going to be able to focus on their job more easily than people who are worried about not being able to meet their rent that month.”

For Sweetpea’s Jameson, there’s no going back, and despite the hurdles she is determined to continue paying her staff a living wage.

“I can’t go back to paying my staff a lower wage,” she said. “It’s unfair to them and they shouldn’t have to work three jobs just to buy food.”