Tag Archives: Living Wage for Families BC

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Living Wage Symposium brought multiple sectors together to tackle the affordability crisis

Editor’s note: This is a local issue. 33% of the respondents to the most recent Point In Time count of Campbell River’s unhoused population said they lost their homes because of insufficient income. In the Comox Valley, this statistic rose to 56%. According to the 2021 Census, 38% of the renters in those areas are paying more than they can afford for shelter. This is also true on Quadra Island and on Cortes Island the number of tenants paying unaffordable rents was 47%.

By Sidney Coles, Capital Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On Wednesday morning, representatives from the not-for-profit, private and public sectors gathered at the Living Wage Symposium at Victoria City Hall to discuss creative ways they can address the economic squeeze people are feeling in the CRD. The event was organized by the Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria (CSPC) in partnership with the United Way Southern Vancouver Island, Vancity, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Living wage Families for BC.  

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Inside Vancouver’s Decision to Scrap Its Living Wage Commitment

Editor’s note: in a memo to the city council one year after the Living Wage program was introduced, City Manager (now Cortes Island resident) Sadhu Johnston reported, “During 2017, the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Park Board signed or renegotiated 17 contracts that meet the Living Wage program criteria with vendors to ensure their staff and subcontractors are paid the living wage. Since the introduction of the policy, eight contracted service employees received a living wage who would not otherwise have been paid one. These employees are part of the contracted graffiti removal team and the contractor has reported reductions in absenteeism, turnover and recruitment costs as well as increased morale and productivity.”

By  Zak Vescera, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Internal emails suggest City of Vancouver staff felt “significant anger and disillusionment” after city council voted to scrap the municipality’s living wage policy this year.

That’s how former chief equity officer Aftab Erfan described the reaction from staff after the city announced in March it would no longer guarantee a living wage, effectively cutting the guaranteed minimum pay for security guards, food vendors, janitors and other low-wage workers. Erfan left the job four months later.

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Vancouver’s Decision to Abandon Living Wage Program Creates Shockwaves

By  Zak Vescera, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In 2017, the City of Vancouver committed to ensuring its employees — and workers for city contractors — were paid enough to live there. 

At the time, Vancouver was  the biggest employer in the country to offer a living wage based on the  cost of rent, food and other necessities. 

“It was the largest living wage  municipality, and it did a tremendous job over the years in encouraging  other businesses to sign on,” said Anastasia French, the director of Living Wage for Families BC.  Then-mayor Gregor Robertson told media it was a way to guarantee  workers “a basic level of opportunity” in an expensive place to live and  work. 

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