Pelham could be next municipality paying employees a living wage
Published January 26, 2023 at 9:49 am
Pelham could follow in St. Catharines’ footsteps as the second municipality in Niagara Region to pay its employees a “living wage.”
During budget deliberations last week, Ward 1 Councillor Wayne Olson brought up the issue, noting some employees still make minimum wage.
Although only a small amount of Pelham staff make minimum wage, such as seasonal help (lifeguards, crossing guards, etc), Olson suggested that staff looking into the possibility of boosting the low-wage earners.
Currently, minimum wage in Ontario is $15.50/hour. Living wage, however, is calculated per municipality across the province and calculated how much a person would need for basic living costs, including food and shelter.
In Niagara Region, the living wage is set at $19.80/hour. In more urban areas, it is usually more – Toronto’s current living wage is $23.15/hour.
Since the bump in town costs that living wages would involve has not been calculated into the 2023 town operational budget, Town CAO David Cribbs suggested that a town report could be pulled together by staff and that the potential addition could be added to the 2024 town budget.
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