As temperatures drop and heating bills rise, low-wage workers face impossible choices: buy groceries or heat their homes, pay bills or make rent on time.
While governments grapple with intensifying trade tensions, the daily struggles of over 700,000 low-wage British Columbians whose paycheques don’t cover the cost of living in their communities often go unnoticed.
Our 2025 Living Wage report calculates the living wages for 27 BC communities. This is the hourly rate that full-time workers need to cover basic expenses without falling into debt or chronic financial stress. It allows families to afford a modest, decent standard of living and participate meaningfully in community life and doesn’t include luxuries or extras.
“The daily struggles of low-wage British Columbians often go unnoticed.”
Metro Vancouver’s 2025 living wage is $27.85 an hour, the third highest in the province behind Whistler ($29.60) and Squamish ($28).
There is now a staggering $10-per-hour gap between BC’s minimum wage and the living wage in Metro Vancouver.
Housing remains the largest expense in BC household budgets. Although asking rents have started to decline in Metro Vancouver, rents are still rising faster than inflation and vacancy rates remain stubbornly low. Food costs, the second-largest expense for most households, continue increasing faster than inflation.
Government support has provided some relief.
Investments to make child care more affordable, the new Canadian Dental Care Plan and increases to the BC Rental Assistance Program for families with children have helped. But persistent cost increases, particularly for housing, have offset these gains.
“The living wage ensures all workers’ compensation supports a modest but adequate standard of living.”
Approximately one-third of BC workers earn less than their community’s living wage, with racialized and female workers disproportionately represented. In Metro Vancouver, half of all racialized women earn below the living wage, a disparity that reflects deep structural inequalities in our labour market.
The living wage is first and foremost a call to employers to ensure all workers, including contracted staff, receive compensation sufficient to support a modest but adequate standard of living.
Over 450 BC employers from small businesses to municipalities, First Nation Councils, school boards, non-profit organizations and airports, have answered the call, adopting living wage policies. Research confirms that paying living wages benefits employers, reducing staff turnover, increasing productivity and increasing spending in local communities.
But employers can’t do this alone.
As governments mobilize around tariffs and buy-Canadian policies, we cannot lose sight of workers struggling to afford basic necessities. The provincial government must lead by becoming a living wage employer for its own employees and contractors and by encouraging public institutions such as universities, hospitals and school boards to follow suit.
“Approximately one-third of BC workers earn less than the living wage, with racialized and female workers disproportionately represented.”
In addition to prioritizing Canadian suppliers, governments must also ensure their contracts support living wage jobs. Embedding living wage standards into government procurement processes would be a powerful step toward economic security for workers across BC while strengthening our economy.
Equally critical are investments that reduce household costs: more affordable housing, universal $10-a-day child care, free transit for youth under 18 and publicly funded pharmacare and mental health services. These aren’t just social programs, they are economic infrastructure that enable workers and their families to thrive.
Some argue now is not the time to expand public services, citing economic headwinds and trade tensions. But delaying action on affordability means future economic pain while strategic investments in cost-reducing public services will create jobs, stimulate local economies and help us weather future economic uncertainty.
Without urgent government action, the gap between wages and the cost of living will continue to widen, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers struggling to make ends meet.
We can build an economy that works for everyone, where full-time work delivers financial stability, where families can afford homes in the communities where they work and where no one has to choose between buying groceries or heating their home. But only if we make affordability a central priority as BC navigates the challenges ahead.
The living wage isn’t just a number. It’s a transparent benchmark for what it truly costs to live with dignity in communities across BC. It’s a measure of whether paid work delivers dignity or just a daily struggle to get by.
This opinion article was first published by the Vancouver Sun.
