St. Albertans need to make more than $22 an hour to live comfortably in the community, according to a new report.
The city does not the highest living wage needs in the province, but it’s tied for the third spot with Calgary.
On Nov. 14, the Alberta Living Wage Network (ALWN) released the living wage numbers for 2022 and the living wage needed for St. Albertans to cover basic expenses and participate in the community was calculated to be $22.40 per hour.
There are no numbers for St. Albert in 2021, but Calgary, which shares the 2022 number of $22.40, had a living wage of $18.60 last year.
“What is sort of stunning is that it's the same as Calgary and just a tiny fraction under Fort McMurray…(I'm) not super surprised, but it's obviously alarming that it is escalating so quickly,” said St. Albert NDP MLA Marie Renaud.
Edmonton, which came in sixth place, had a wage calculated at $21.40 for 2022. Last year, the living wage for Edmonton was $18.10.
Fort McMurray, which had the second top living wage, came in at $22.50. Canmore was calculated to have the highest living wage at $32.75.
“We all know that the cost-of-living food prices have just shot up and shelter prices are steadily creeping up. But we've also seen so many changes to different expenses that I think are causing people's income to have less buying power,” said Renaud.
The living wage is based on 35 hours per work by any working adult in a household and is based on income needs by three separate household types including a two-parent family with two young children, a lone parent with one child, and a single person.
Previous calculations only considered a family of four, but “most of the feedback we received was that basing the living wage on just a family of four is not okay – people wanted it to cover more living situations,” a document from LWNA stated.
The calculations consider shelter, food costs based on “Health Canada’s 2019 National Nutritious Food Basket (NNFB) adapted by Alberta Health Services for Alberta communities,” transportation, childcare, clothing and footwear, healthcare, tuition, contingency of two weeks’ pay, and other household items.
The calculations also include inflation in the province and tax benefits that may be received.
When asked if there may be limitations in the calculations based on the realities of the community, Renaud said she thinks things are just more expensive in the community. Many people in the community commute.
“Everything from gas prices, insurance has just skyrocketed, utilities, everything and not to mention, life's a little bit more expensive,” she said.
Renaud also cited the “record” numbers of people needing assistance with food from the St. Albert Food Bank.
“I honestly think that someone earning $22.40 an hour at a full-time job would still have a hard time covering all of their expenses,” she said.
Renaud, who is the provincial critic for community and social services, said for someone who is on Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) who gets a basic living allowance of $1,685 per month or someone who is on Income Support with a basic living allowance of $866 is living beyond poverty.
“This is like danger level poverty,” she said.
Premier Danielle Smith listed income supports such as AISH and senior’s benefit be adjusted for inflation at the top of commitments to deliver on in her mandate letter to Minister of Seniors, Community, and Social Services Jason Nixon.
Renaud said re-indexing these supports will make an immediate difference in the lives of the people who need them.
“Indexing is great. It's about damn time. But we need more than that. We need to catch them up and it needs to be retroactive,” she said.
