A new report finds British Columbia’s current minimum wage continues to fall short of a living wage across the province.
Living Wage BC and BC Policy Solutions used a formula to determine the living wage for over two dozen communities. The report said the living wage rate reflects the actual cost of living for a full-time worker.
“This rate supports a basic, decent standard of living, but without many of the comforts or extras that many may take for granted,” the report explains.
Whistler had the highest living wage of $29.60, followed by Squamish at $28.00.
In B.C.’s most populous region, Metro Vancouver, the living wage was $27.85 – a full $10 higher than B.C.’s current minimum wage of $17.85.
Some Interior communities weren’t far behind. The living wages for both Golden and Revelstoke were $27.80.
Greater Victoria was also among the highest in the province, with a living wage of $27.40.
The report said the living wage increased across nearly all communities compared to last year’s figures. The exception was Daajing Giids on the north coast, where the living wage rate fell nearly six per cent.
The report said the living wage calculation is intentionally conservative and does not factor in expenses like debt payments, retirement savings or home ownership costs.
It does include an allocation for two college courses per year for a possible pathway out of low-wage employment. For Metro Vancouver, that amounted to $112 per month.
The living wage in the report is based on the weighted average of costs for three different types of households: a family of four, a single parent household and a single adult living alone.
The report said governments have made considerable progress over the past decade in reducing child poverty through child benefits and the Canadian Dental Care Plan. But it said support available to single adults has declined, pointing to the elimination of the Climate Action Tax Credit earlier this year.
Other temporary benefits for low and modest-income offered to British Columbians last year were discontinued, like the B.C. Family Bonus and B.C. Hydro Affordability Credit. The report said living wage households are now between $300 and $900 worse off than last year, even as rent and food costs continue to rise.
It noted single, working-aged adults represent the largest group living in poverty in British Columbia, according to 2023 data from Statistics Canada.
As of October 2025, there were more than 450 businesses and organizations in B.C. certified as Living Wage employers.
The report calls on the province to raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour to help narrow the gap between the minimum wage and cost of living. It said workers also need pay equity legislation, stronger protections against wage theft and meaningful access to collective bargaining.
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