Living wage in Hamilton rises to $19.05 per hour, up more than 10% from last calculation

When Adam Oldfield took over his father's business four years ago, there were a handful of full and part-time workers making different wages — some "just above the minimum wage" — at Vacu-Man Furnace and Duct Cleaning Services in Hamilton. 

Now, Oldfield employs seven full-time and five part-time people who all earn a living wage of $17.20 per hour.

That wage is about to go up to $19.05 — something Oldfield, as a living wage employer, supports. 

"If anyone's coming to work, and they're losing money, then either I'm not doing my job well, or I shouldn't be paying them. We shouldn't be doing the job at all," he said. 

Hamilton's living wage has been recalculated to be $19.05, the Ontario Living Wage Network and its local partners announced Monday, a 10.8 per cent increase since the last calculation in 2021.

The current minimum wage set by the provincial government is $15.50. 

The network says a living wage is the hourly pay workers need to make ends meet and participate in their community. It varies based on where you live. 

The announcement of the updated wage took place in the Workers Art and Heritage Centre in Hamilton. Nine other new estimates for Ontario regions are also being released this month. The Greater Toronto Area's living wage is now $23.15, up from $22.08. Brant-Niagara-Haldimand-Norfolk is now $19.80, up from $18.90.

In Hamilton, the 10.8 per cent increase is the largest the city has received since the calculation started 10 years ago.

"None of us are really surprised seeing as a lot of costs have really risen over the last number of years," said Ted Hildebrandt, senior social planner at the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton.

There are close to 40 living wage employers in the Hamilton area, 631 across Ontario. 

However, around 30,000 workers in Hamilton make less than a living wage, according to the network's last count.

Oldfield says the business's "profit margin went down a little bit" when it became a living wage employer, but says it's all a "number's game" when it comes to adjusting. 

"If you offer a product or a service that is quality, it can justify the means of the market," he said. 

"People might say, 'you're too expensive, I can't do business with you,' so that's really going to be a real pendulum, you got to gauge how you present that."

How the calculation is made

The living wage is calculated on a 35-hour-work-week basis and does not include debt repayment, which Tom Cooper, director of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, said is something "we definitely need to look at next year."

"Debt repayment is becoming a bigger burden on families, particularly low income families, we're seeing huge percentage of their income gobbled up by by their payments."

To calculate the living wage, the network determined average costs of food, shelter, clothing and footwear, transportation, adult education, medical expenses, communications, child-care and other costs in a given region.

The network looked at three different types of families: two 35-year-old parents with two children (seven and three), a single parent with a child (seven), and a single adult.

They estimated, for instance, that a set of parents with two children in Hamilton might spend $20,387 on housing per year, while a single parent with one child might spend $18,754, and a single adult $15,850.

Food costs for a family of four on average came in at $10,862 per year, for a single parent $5,712 and $4,485 for a single adult.

They also took taxes, government transfers and payroll into account to determine what would be a livable hourly wage.

'Workers, when they feel valued, [they] are more reliable'

Cooper encourages businesses to adhere to the living wage requirements, saying it's a "win-win." 

He said it's cost effective for businesses, which would spend less on retraining staff.

"And workers, when they feel valued, [they] are more reliable," he said.

For Kirstin Webb, an employee at United Way Halton and Hamilton, earning a living wage has been "huge."

"I think that it helps all of our employees feel supported," she said.

She said she thinks it's important to have the conversations around living wages and "start them whenever we can." 

"[We need to] make sure that we are continuing to advocate to the city, to other elected officials to make sure that income levels … disability rates, [Ontario Works] rates, etc., are also a living wage to make sure that all of our community members can thrive."