Update: We found a new link on the Living Wage Canada website that includes the calculated living wages for 25 B.C. communities. The previous link we found included only 16 communities. The article has been updated as a result.
Revelstoke’s living wage is amongst the highest in B.C., coming in as the ninth highest from 24 communities that have calculated the figure.
A new calculation released last week puts Revelstoke’s living wage at $18.77 per hour for 2017. It’s actually down slightly from the $18.87 an hour that was calculated in 2015.
“The reason why it looks like it’s about the same is the child benefit program through the federal government had a very downward influence on the wage. It basically offset what the increase in the actual expenses are,” said Kevin Dorrius, the manager of Community Futures, which is speerheading Revelstoke’s Living Wage campaign. “It’s an example of where policies can actually help families, but it shouldn’t be taken as a sign that Revelstoke is 10 cents an hour more affordable in terms of a living wage because in fact expenses have gone up.”
The wage was calculated by looking at housing, food, clothing, transportation, child care, medical and other costs for a family of four. This year, the costs of owning a cellphone and Internet were added to the calculation. It assumes the family has two children aged four and seven — one in school and one in full time childcare. The family has one car and both parents work 35 hours per week.
According to Living Wage Canada, Revelstoke’s living wage ranks behind Vancouver ($20.62/hour), Kitimat ($20.61/hour), Golden ($20.46/hour), Clayoquot Sound ($20.11/hour), Victoria ($20.01/hour), New Westminster ($19.14/hour), Cowichan Valley ($18.81/hour) and the Sunshine Coast ($18.80/hour). 25 communities around B.C. have calculated a living wage, but several communities known for being expensive like Whistler and the Gulf Islands aren’t included.
Revelstoke’s high living wage is most impacted by the cost of food, housing and gas. According to social development coordinator Jill Zacharias, one third of two-parent families earn less than the living wage, which is based on a combined income of $68,500.
Dorrius says he wants to start a dialogue with the business community on increasing wages, though he recognizes it will be very difficult for some business to pay $18.77 per hour, particularly those in retail and hospitality.
“What I would like to do is to engage the business community in a discussion starting at a point where we can all agree we have an affordability issue, it does affect business and how can we have an influence on this,” he said.
While noting it would be “quite a catastrophic blow to margins” for some businesses to pay a living wage, Dorrius said the discussion should look at innovative ways to increase compensation.
“Before we can really come up with a living wage campaign, we need to come up with more tools we can give to entrepreneurs to allow them to include different and innovative strategies in how they remunerate their employees,” he said.
The flip side is looking at ways of reducing the cost of living. Community Futures is also looking at housing issues. Some businesses have bought homes for their staff to live in, but more needs to be done, said Dorrius. “We need to get some more stock so that these houses can be used for families to rent,” he said. “It’s a tough go for people who want to come and work in our community.”
Here’s the hourly living wage for 25 communities in B.C., according to Living Wage Canada:
| Community | Living Wage |
| Cranbrook | $14.16 |
| Williams Lake | $15.77 |
| Fraser Valley | $15.90 |
| Comox Valley | $15.96 |
| PG/Quesnel | $16.39 |
| Qualicum/Parksville | $16.44 |
| Powell River | $16.75 |
| Kamloops | $16.90 |
| Port Alberni | $17.22 |
| Esquimalt | $17.31 |
| Nanaimo | $17.99 |
| Lower Columbia (Trail area) | $18.15 |
| Terrace | $18.17 |
| NE BC | $18.29 |
| Central Okanagan | $18.42 |
| Nelson | $18.42 |
| Revelstoke | $18.77 |
| Sunshine Coast | $18.80 |
| Cowichan Valley | $18.81 |
| New Westminster | $19.14 |
| Victoria | $20.01 |
| Clayoquot Sound | $20.11 |
| Golden | $20.46 |
| Kitimat | $20.61 |
| Vancouver | $20.62 |
