Victoria is the most expensive place to live in B.C., according to living wage report
CBC
For the first time since the living wage has been calculated in British Columbia, Victoria has outpaced Vancouver as the province's most expensive city.
The annual report published by the Living Wage for Families Campaign, a non-profit organization advocating for policies that help families make ends meet, found that two parents in Metro Vancouver would each have to earn at least $24.02 an hour at a full-time job — or $43,826 annually — in order to meet the most basic costs of raising two children.
In Victoria, the living wage for 2022 is $24.29, according to the report published in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The living wage in both cities rose by nearly $4 an hour since last year and far outpaces B.C.'s minimum wage of $15.65.
According to the report, living wages are rising faster than the rate of inflation, which has reached levels not seen in nearly four decades.
The campaign says the increase in the living wage is being driven by the cost of food and housing.
"Which incidentally are the two biggest essentials in a family's budget," said Anastasia French, provincial manager for Living Wage for Families B.C. "They're the two things that you can't really cut back on."
The report estimates the monthly grocery bill of a family living in Metro Vancouver has risen an average of $161 to $1,114, nearly 17 per cent more than last year.
Groceries have become even more expensive on Vancouver Island and in northern B.C., says French.
"It costs more to get food over to the island, which is why their living wages are now slightly higher than that of Vancouver," French said.
Food is now the second-highest cost for families in most communities, surpassing child care.
"That's because of some of the large investments that have been put in for child care, which are fantastic," said French.
Housing costs also jumped by nearly 17 per cent, in part because the report now includes the costs of renters who have recently moved.
The cost of renting a three-bedroom apartment in Metro Vancouver is estimated at $2,186.
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