It's Living Wage Week, and we're very excited to announce 23 updated living wage rates across the province as well as a first-time calculation for Peel Region. 

Since we last made calculations in 2019, new policies that provide support to families with children have been introduced by the provincial government. Combined with  changing family demographics, it has become clear that expenses for a reference family of four is no longer the most representative for living wage calculations in Ontario.  

New supports for families with children meant that living wage calculations were coming back with reductions over the 2019 rates. Yet we all know the cost of living has not gone down. Inflation has quadrupled since the beginning of 2019 and is at a 18-year high. Our calculation was no longer reflecting reality. 

Our 2021 calculations now take into account a weighted average between a family of four, single parent with one child and a single adult. These 2021 living wage rates reflect changing demographics in our province and increases in inflation. We believe they accurately reflect the realities of costs in Ontario.

HAMILTON—The Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN) is pleased to announce that FirstOntario Credit Union has become a the latest credit union to become a certified living wage employer, with all employees earning at least $16.45 per hour. In operation for over 80 years, FirstOntario serves more than 126,000 people with 31 branches throughout the Golden Horseshoe, Niagara Region and Southwestern regions of Ontario.

Award-winning TLC Landscaping is one of several London businesses to become a certified living wage employer recently. Over 100 people work for TLC, and none earn less than the calculated living wage rate for London of $16.20 per hour. 

As we do of all our new living wage employers, we asked Carla Bailey, Human Resources Manager why TLC chose to certify:

"As a company, we believe the more appreciation and consideration employees feel, the more enjoyable their work becomes, and the more energy they put into their work.

KITCHENER—The Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN) is pleased to announce that AET Group has become a certified living wage employer with all employees earning at least $16.35 per hour.

AET Group was founded twenty years ago as solid waste management company. They have since grown into multi-disciplinary environmental consulting, auditing and scientific services company. Scott Freiburger, Managing Director & CEO, explains why they became a certified living wage employer:

The Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising public and investor awareness of Ontario's advanced manufacturing ecosystem, with the intention of supporting growth and improving competitiveness. Brendan Sweeney, Managing Director, explains why they decided to certify:

"The Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing believes that paying the living wage, or more, demonstrates that we value our employees health and well-being.  A living wage demonstrates that we believe in the growth of our staff, community and economy."

The Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN) is pleased to announce that Village Media has become a certified living wage employer with employees at all outlets in Ontario earning at least the local living wage where available. They are the first media outlet to become a living wage employer in Ontario, and the first certified employer in Sault Ste. Marie where they are headquartered.

Village Media is a network of local news and information websites that began providing digital news and community content to the Sault Ste. Marie region almost 20 years ago. They have now grown to include 20 owned and operated sites and license their custom content management system to respected news publishers across Canada, in the United States and in the United Kingdom. CEO Jeff Elgie explains why they chose to certify:

MIDLAND—The Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN) is pleased to announce that ServiceMaster Restore of Midland/Orillia has become a certified living wage employer with all employees earning at least $18.01 per hour. 

Dwayne Frans, Owner, explains why they became a certified living wage employer:

“We are proud to be part of the Living Wage employer program in Simcoe County and feel all our employees deserve to earn a fair wage to support their families and to get ahead”.

Family-Owned Home Care Company Stands Out From Rest By Paying All Staff At Least a Living Wage

OTTAWA—The Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN) is pleased to announce that Freiheit Care Inc., a premium home care company, has become a certified living wage employer with all employees earning at least $18.42 per hour.

There has been a constant call for caregivers, personal support workers, and nurses to be fairly compensated for the service they provide, especially to a society grappling with COVID-19. Helen Reimer, Director of Freiheit Care, explains why they pay at least a living wage to all full-time, part-time and contracted staff:

"Our business is about caring for our clients, and we depend on our staff to provide that service. If we want to offer reliable, premium care, we must start with making sure our staff are able to make ends meet...

The Ontario Living Wage Network is pleased to announce that ServiceMaster Restore of Guelph, a disaster restoration company, has become a certified living wage employer with all employees earning at least $17.00 per hour.

Andrew Jackson, co-owner explains why they pay at least a living wage to all staff:

"Myself and my partners started in this industry as technicians in the field and worked our way up, eventually buying our own franchise. From the beginning we always promised ourselves that we’d look after our people. We knew what it was like to scrape by on the bare minimum of wages…to struggle with multiple jobs to make ends meet. We don’t forget where we’ve come from and we’ll always be committed to treating people well."

The Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN) is pleased to announce that Matthew House Ottawa, a furniture bank and refugee services charity, has become a certified living wage employer, with all employees earning at least $18.42 per hour.

With a provincial minimum wage of $14.25, Allan Reesor-McDowell, Executive Director of Matthew House Ottawa explains why they pay at least a living wage to all full-time, part-time and contracted staff:

"Our key value is respecting human dignity, and from my perspective, and the perspective of our board, a living wage is foundational to that."

Well, this is going to be a Living Wage Week like no other. For starters, we are not releasing any new or updated living wage rates, as we usually would on the first Monday of November.

Along with our local organizers, we decided there was no way to calculate 2020 living wage rates that would provide a useful representation of living expenses in the coming year. A few reasons behind this decision:

• Many calculations depend on local non-profit organizations such as United Ways, social planning councils, and development organizations whose resources are already stretched thin.  
• The calculations rely on 2019 factors and price indicators that will not be relevant in 2020-2021.
• In the interest of consistency, a pause in calculations now could avoid any wild fluctuations over previous and future years.

Almost all of the regional calculations have undergone a year or more without an update. We’ve just never pressed pause for all of them at once.

As this crisis continues to unfold, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the flood of daily posts, briefings, updates, emergency alerts, breaking news stories, announcements, and directives. 

We at the Ontario Living Wage Network are thinking of the many certified living wage employers and their employees and their families at this time. Now more than ever we need these good and decent businesses and organizations.

New employers continue to apply for certification with us, and we are carrying on with our work as we always have. Of course we wont be doing in-person duties such as certificate presentations and other public appearances. 

Our thoughts are also with employers and their workers who have seen a downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Af of today, April 6th, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit applications are open in addition to several other measures. See Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan for individuals and businesses here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan.html

Huron County is now the third municipality to become a certified living wage employer. This is terrific. We really need our cities and towns to step up—now more than ever—in the fight against working poverty.

“I am thrilled that we can join others in our area by becoming certified as a Living Wage employer,” says Meighan Wark, CAO of the County of Huron. “At the County of Huron, we believe that paying a Living Wage is a very important movement to help lift families out of poverty and provide a basic level of economic security...

On September 30th United Way Simcoe Muskoka, the Poverty Reduction Task Group, and the OLWN’s Anne Coleman presented on the living wage to Barrie City Council. Watch the presentation here, which begins at the 40-minute mark.

It is the latest in a steady stream of council appearances my colleague Anne has been making, racking up the travel kilometres from Hamilton to Kingston to Port Colborne and now Barrie.

As communications coordinator, it’s my job to help prepare for, catalog, and report on how these things go. Sometimes I’ll supply slides or other supporting materials. Of course there are often questions from the council members after such presentations.

The councillors in Barrie had several succinct exchanges with the presenters, and they seemed to have a genuine interest in what the living wage was and how it might impact the city they represent. It made me reflect on the other times the living wage has gone before a council in Ontario.