Pay City Workers a Living Wage
The City of Vancouver is not paying its workers a living wage, i.e., the amount that someone needs to earn to cover their basic household expenses and live with dignity.
Living Wage BC, a local non-profit initiative, calculates the living wage in every community across the province each year based on local costs of food, clothing, housing, childcare and transportation. Living Wage BC also certifies employers that pledge to pay their employees a living wage.
What goes into the Living Wage? (Source: Living Wage BC)
The City of Vancouver had been a certified Living Wage Employer since 2017, until a majority of the current City Council balked at continuing to pay all of their employees a living wage in 2023, in the midst of high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis. Instead, a majority on City Council chose to use a five-year rolling average of the living wage as the baseline compensation for their employees. This allows the City to offload all the financial risks of inflation onto its employees, especially lower-paid workers who tend to be younger and/or work in vital front-line services, such as security, janitorial, graffiti removal, and traffic control services.
By withdrawing from the Living Wage Employer program, the City of Vancouver is no longer in the company of 450 public and private sector employers that pledge to prioritize their workers’ financial well-being. This also means that the baseline pay at the City of Vancouver is below Metro Vancouver municipal governments that guarantee a living wage, including the City of New Westminster, the City of Burnaby, the City of North Vancouver, the City of Pitt Meadows, and the City of Port Coquitlam. Vancouver City Council firmly sent a message to other public and private employers in the region: we don’t care about paying workers enough to afford Vancouver, and we don’t care if you do either.
This is not the first time that this City Council has balanced its books on the backs of its workers, and it almost certainly won’t be the last. The 2026 “Zero Means Zero” City Budget, which will cut 400 jobs within the City of Vancouver, has been demoralizing to city workers that keep City Hall and public services running. Ken Sim and the ABC have further promised to freeze property taxes for another year if they are elected in October’s municipal election. Is there really that much “waste” to cut at the City (that Ken and the ABC only found out in Year 3 of their term), or are Ken Sim and the ABC blindly chasing after the 0% top-line number for political gains, while also dismantling the city government and municipal services from within?
OneCity Councillor Lucy Maloney and Green Party Councillor Pete Fry have teamed up and put forward a motion that will restore the City as a Living Wage Employer. This motion is coming up as the first item on the Standing Committee on Policy and Strategic Priorities meeting at City Council on January 21th, 2026 (Wednesday).
Tell Vancouver City Council that workers deserve a salary that protects their dignity and stability by sending them a comment or requesting to speak. You can access both options from this Council agenda page. Make sure to select the proper agenda item (January 21, 2026 - Standing Committee on Policy and Strategic Priorities: Motion 1. Good Pay for Good People's Work: Recertifying Vancouver as a Living Wage Employer.) If you want to speak to City Council directly, either in-person at City Hall or through a phone call, you must sign up to speak before 5 p.m. on January 20th, 2026 (Tuesday).