Report raises living wage in Winnipeg, Thompson by five per cent

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Manitoba branch has bumped Winnipeg’s living wage five per cent after another year of notable inflation.

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The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Manitoba branch has bumped Winnipeg’s living wage five per cent after another year of notable inflation.

It deems Winnipeg’s living wage to be $19.21 per hour. Brandon’s living wage now sits at $15.69 (a three-cent increase) and Thompson’s rose five per cent to $17.48.

Brandon saw little change because rent largely remained the same, says the organization’s new report, released Tuesday.

The newly updated living wage highlights the growing gap between Manitoba’s minimum wage and hourly wage earners, Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck said. (Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press)

“We’re calling on the government to… increase the minimum wage to a living wage,” said Jesse Hajer, the report’s co-author. “This is certainly feasible.”

Gord Delbridge, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500, called for the City of Winnipeg to pay its employees a living wage.

“Working people should not be living in poverty,” he said in a news release.

The living wage increase is based on the rising cost of living, including higher grocery prices compared to what they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The federal government’s $10 daily child-care program factored into — and lowered — the estimated living wage, the report’s authors said.

Last year, the CCPA determined a family of four with two working parents in Winnipeg would need to earn $18.34 per hour to reach a living wage.

The dollar figure was $15.66 in Brandon and $16.25 in Thompson. At the time, the research institute noted Canadians faced the fastest increases in the cost of living since the early 1980s.

The newly updated living wage highlights the growing gap between Manitoba’s minimum wage and hourly wage earners, Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck said.

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