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Living Wage In a Livable Economy

In Edmonton, approximately 140,000 workers are identified as low income earners (earning below $16.31 per hour), according to the Edmonton Social Planning Council. Four in five of these workers are over the age of 20 and 60% are women.

The Canadian Payroll Association’s annual survey of Canadian workers identifies that in any given year 45% to 50% of workers across our nation are living pay check to pay check and would face significant hardships, including the loss of their residence, if they went without their pay check for one or two pay periods.

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Living Wage and the Cities Reducing Poverty National Summit

In early April I had the pleasure of presenting on a Living Wage panel at Tamarack’s Cities Reducing Poverty Summit hosted this year in Hamilton, Ontario.

The Prosperity Roundtable from Chatham-Kent, Ontario was participating to talk about the unique challenges that may be experienced in rural communities when engaging in Living Wage conversations.  Framing the conversation in a way that leads to successful outcomes was incredibly important for our organizing committee; in our community that meant using our local Living Wage number as an opportunity to dialogue about the important policy considerations that can be used to help build a more prosperous community.  

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Sharing Successes from Yukon (Whitehorse)

This year the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition celebrates the 20th Anniversary of their poverty reduction work in the Yukon territory and in Whitehorse specifically. They've undergone much development and evolution as a group over the years, dependent on the current need and passion expressed by the community. They actively listen to residents, and have taken on the role as a spawning ground for other organizations and projects to take hold (ex. the downtown urban garden society, and the local Habitat for Humanity chapter).

Here, with Bill Thomas, Co-Chair of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition (YAPC), we take a look at how their values and priorities are bringing local youth to the coalition's advocacy, awareness, and action priorities to reduce poverty and create stronger leaders.
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Signals of Coming Disruption

Big change doesn't just click on, it occurs over time, starting out often as weak signals of the change to come. Sometimes it’s like the old frog in the boiling water story. Put the frog in when the water is cool and turn up the flame and eventually the frog realizes its plight, just too late to adjust, to escape.

For years, donor giving has been changing. Charities have become increasingly dependent on larger gifts from fewer donors. As the economy has served to increase the income and wealth gap between the small numbers of wealthy and the rest of everyone else, we have seen food bank use escalate and a growing number of workers living pay check to pay check. Job security is no longer a reasonable expectation for a growing number of people, much less the chance for advancement. Employee supported pensions are no longer the norm and health and dental benefits are harder to come by for low income workers and many who do not yet qualify as “low income” workforce members.

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A Living Wage for Whitehorse, Yukon

By: Kendall Hammond, July 5 2016

Last week the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition (YAPC) released the report Living Wage in Whitehorse, Yukon: 2016 that included the first ever living wage calculation for Whitehorse, Yukon. The report revealed that the living wage in Whitehorse equals $19.12 per hour, one of the highest rates in Canada. In addition to the report, the YAPC released a calculation guide that includes a detailed description of the methods used in the Whitehorse calculation as well as step-by-step instructions to assist those calculating the living wage in other Northern communities. To date, Yellowknife is the only other Northern community to calculate the living wage.

The living wage serves as an important measure of poverty as those earning less than the living wage amount in their community will undoubtedly face significant challenges meeting basic needs. This information is especially valuable in Northern communities where Statistics Canada does not measure poverty.

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Living Wages: Reducing Poverty Across Canada

At Vibrant Communities we have seen a surge in both poverty reduction strategies at a local/municipal level, as well as a dramatic rise in the number of living wage campaigns in recent years.

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