THUNDER BAY — Workers in Northern Ontario now need to earn $19.80 per hour in order to make a living wage, according to a new report.
That's $3.25 an hour more than the minimum wage currently required by provincial legislation.
The Ontario Living Wage Network has released its annual report estimating living wage requirements for various regions in the province.
For Thunder Bay and the rest of the North, it raised the figure by ten cents an hour from last year, when inflation pushed it up by more than 20 per cent from 2021.
The Ontario Living Wage Network calculated the cost of a wide range of things including food, shelter, clothing, transportation, adult education, medical expenses, life insurance, cell phone and internet costs, and child care expenses as well as some others.
It said food and rental inflation were key drivers of higher living costs across the province over the past year.
Although food costs in the North were higher than anywhere else, this was offset by more affordable shelter costs.
According to the network's calculations, the only regions where the living wage is lower than the North are London and Southwestern Ontario ($18.85/hr and $18.65/hr respectively).
In the Greater Toronto Area, the living wage is by far the highest in the province, at $25.05/hr.
The Ontario Living Wage Network encourages employers to use its calculations in setting salaries.
"The rising cost of living impacts those at the bottom of the wage spectrum the most," the report states. "That's why employers look to our living wage rates. It is a calculation that takes into account the real burdens that workers face much better than the politically-set minimum wage."
In Thunder Bay, the Lakehead Social Planning Council works closely with living wage network to research the relevant local data.
"It's an aggregated calculation," said Bonnie Krysowaty, coordinator of the social planning council's poverty reduction strategy.
"We look at a single person, a family, as well as a couple with no children. So we really look at all of the different family types to figure out what the cost of living would be for that group or that individual, then any government benefits, etc., that that person would be allowed as well."
Krysowaty said the disparity between legislated minimum wage rates and what people really need makes it imperative for governments to do more.
"We just have to look at our neighbours and our relatives to find out that people are not able to afford their mortgages, their rents, their food, their clothing, etc. So governments do need to look at this, and realize that for people to be able to meet the social determinants of health, they need to earn a certain wage."
She noted, as well, that employers that pay living wages report less staff turnover, better recruitment results, and higher productivity.
