On June 1, the Ontario government will raise the province's minimum wage from $10.25 to $11 per hour, matching Nunavut for the highest minimum wage in Canada.
Workers rights and anti-poverty activists say a minimum wage of at least $14 would be sufficient to bring earners of a minimum wage just above the poverty line, according to Stats Canada's Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO).
Often cited as a one means to measure poverty in Canada – the federal government has no official mandated poverty line – LICO represents the income level at which a family finds itself in financially and socially strained circumstances because it has to spend a greater proportion of its income on necessities like food and shelter and energy than the average family of similar size.
As it stands, Alberta has the lowest minimum wage in Canada at $9.95 per hour, while the minimum wage for employees who serve liquor as part of their employment is even less, sitting at $9.05 per hour.
According to Stats Canada, Alberta's Consumer Price Index, an indicator of changes in consumer prices of a fixed set of goods and services, including food and shelter, was the highest in the country in December 2012. It remained the highest in December 2013, though the per cent change between 2012 and 2013 in many maritime provinces was more drastic than in Alberta.
Last year, Alberta raised its minimum wage to $9.95, with the government saying the increase uses the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Alberta as a gauge.
“After taxes, Alberta's minimum wage is the second highest amongst Canadian provinces and provides a good starting point for entering the workforce,” said Human Services Minister Dave Hancock, following the wage hike. “From this starting point, we want to see these workers obtain the skills and experiences to advance their careers.”
So, Alberta allegedly has the second highest minimum wage in Canada, yet there are poverty problems and housing issues not just in the province's biggest cities, but in some of the smaller communities too, like Bonnyville and Cold Lake.
What exactly are people earning minimum wage supposed to do while they are actually earning a minimum wage? Live in a homeless shelter? Not eat? Go without electricity?
According to Hancock, a minimum wage is a stepping-stone to higher earnings. That may be true, but when you start out at $9.95 per hour, or less as a server that serves alcohol, how long will it be before you reach a livable wage and what to do in the mean time?
At even $13 an hour, a person working 40 hours a week, assuming they did not take holidays or lose hours, would make roughly $27,000 before taxes over a 12-month period. At just $800 a month for rent, which is a steal of a deal in Bonnyville or Cold Lake, that person would pay $9,600 a year. Let's say they are thrifty and spend only $2,000 a year on food, $3,000 on utilities, that's $14,600 in expenses.
At that measure, more than 50 per cent of earnings are already taken up, and that's before taxes, insurance or even considering saving for the future, which we're all told to do.
That also doesn't take into account illness, injury, home or car repairs, accidents, disabilities, and other challenging circumstances that may exist or arise at any point.
Perhaps the problem with minimum wage is that it's a race to the bottom. The point is it's the minimum.
What if the philosophy behind paying the lowest earners in society changed? Instead of paying the minimum, a more realistic living wage could be paid, which could better reflect the costs of living and afford those earning a ‘living wage' the dignity of not having to choose between food, shelter or electricity.
