As inflation has calmed in the past year the 2024 living wage rates have increased by an average of 3.4%. For the most part the increase to this year’s living wage rate is mainly due to rising costs for rent in our province. Inflation of food costs may have calmed but still remain high relative to earlier years.

As expected, the Greater Toronto Area continues to have the highest living wage rate at $26.00, up from $25.05. The London-Elgin-Oxford region has the lowest in the province at $19.50, up from $18.85.

The Southwest region, which includes Windsor, Chatham-Kent, and Sarnia has seen the highest increase. The living wage there went up by 6.4%, from $18.65 to $19.85.

Despite the annual October 1st increase to the provincial minimum wage to $17.20, there is still no place in Ontario where you could work full-time and cover all your expenses. Read the full report on how we got these numbers here.

There is a growing list of employers who want to know that their employees are able to make ends meet. This is the end goal of our calculation work and certification program: signing up certified living wage employers across Ontario. In order to qualify for certification, all employees must make at least a local living wage, and many see a raise as a result.

The problem of working poverty is complex, and is the product of issues of affordability, policy, cultural norms and attitudes about the value of work and more. Yet the most expedient first step is to simply ensure that a day’s work can cover that day’s expenses.