2025 Living Wage Rate

What is a Living Wage, Who is most impacted and What difference can a Living Wage make?

Shelter costs, which include rent, utilities, and insurance—are once again driving the annual increase to the living wage across the GTA. These costs account for 47% of the current living wage calculation. Food costs, transportation, and child care are the next highest factors in the calculation.

There is still no place in Ontario where you can work full-time at minimum wage and pay all your bills, even after the recent increase. Our living wage rates show just how short workers will be in being able to make ends meet if they are only getting the legal minimum.

What is a Living Wage?

The calculations are all provided by the Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN), showing that if someone works full-time at a minimum wage job, they would, on average, be short $9.60 per hour in being able to pay all the bills. That works out to $336 per week as compared to a job that pays a living wage. A living wage is calculated by the OLWN to show how much a worker must earn per hour to make ends meet where they live. The calculations gather expenses for three types of households: two adults supporting two small children, a single parent, and a single adult. The results are then aggregated, and include any applicable government taxes, transfers, and benefits.

Who's Most Impacted?

The Ontario Living Wage Network partnered with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Ontario office to take data from 16 cities in Ontario about the who and how many are estimated to earn less than a LW. The intersection of gender and racial status compounds the disadvantage. Racialized women face some of the highest rates of below living wage employment in Ontario, with 25% of racialized women earning less than the living wage in their region. In every city examined, racialized men also faced a higher likelihood of earning below the living wage compared to the general male population.

As the Halton poverty rate continues to rise and local residents face housing  and food cost pressures, addressing the gap between minimum wage and Living Wage is a critical policy  change needed for quality of life. When people have the baseline of a decent wage, they and their families are more likely to be able to fully engage in community life. We see the intersection of Living Wage and one’s ability to form connection in community.

Living Wage Employers and Their Impact

There are 183 workplaces that pay at least a living wage across 147 certified employers in the GTA, and just over 20 in Halton representing many sectors and sizes, including nonprofits. To qualify for certification, employers agree to pay all employees at least a local living wage. They must also track increases to the living wages every year to remain certified.

The OLWN reports that certified employers are showing that there’s another way of organizing a business or nonprofit, they want their employment opportunities to keep people out of working poverty.

For more information about The Ontario Living Wage Network and the 2025 calculations please see: Ontario Living Wage Network

To find a certified living wage business near you, go to slash directory.

Living Wage Employers Map - Ontario Living Wage Network