Ontario’s living wage is 3.6 per cent higher than last year, spiking up to $26 an hour, and nearly $9 more than the minimum wage.
Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN) released its annual calculations for living wages across Ontario, including the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Ottawa, Hamilton, Windsor, Waterloo, and Windsor.
The living wage calculation is determined by typical expenses of a two-parent and two-children household, a single parent, or a single adult. The calculation also acknowledges taxes and benefits.
Last month, Ontario’s minimum wage rose to $17.20, but that’s still $8.80 less than the newly calculated living wage.
“Rent and food costs are the biggest contributors to the rate increases,” OLWN Director of Communications Craig Pickthorne told Now Toronto on Monday.
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Pickthorne believes it’s important for Torontonians to speak out against businesses that don’t pay their employees fair wages and support leaders who are advocating for low-wage workers.
“I personally think city living cannot be made to be more affordable unless people make more per hour, and that requires collective action. One day’s work should cover one day’s food, rent, and other costs, but it doesn’t for too many,” Pickthorne said.
As more people move out of Toronto in search of more affordable housing, Pickthorne says rental rates have gone up in the GTA, Hamilton, and other parts of Ontario.
Windsor saw the largest increase of all Ontario cities for its living wage, hitting $19.85, which is up 6.4 per cent from $18.85.
OLWN also has a map of 867 workplaces in Ontario that pay a local living wage and about half of those businesses are located in Toronto.
Some of the Toronto-based employers across a variety of industries that pay all their employees over $25 an hour include United Way, Nova Dance, Art Metropole, Emma’s Country Kitchen, Sweetpea’s floral shop, Toronto Foundation, Toronto Shine Cleaning, The Police Credit Union, The Centre for Mindfulness Studies, Factory Theatre, and Parkdale Food Pantry.
