Here's how much you need to make to live modestly in Calgary
The Calgary skyline is seen at sunset on Nov. 7, 2023.
Many Calgarians have been feeling the pressure of rising prices and a new report shows just how much more it costs to live modestly in the city now than it did last year.
The city’s living wage is now $23.70 per hour – up 5.8 per cent from 2022, according to the Alberta Living Wage Network (ALWN).
That rate is 58 per cent higher than Alberta’s current minimum wage of $15 per hour.
A living wage is defined by ALWN as the hourly wage a person needs to earn to cover basic expenses for a moderate standard of living.
The organization released living wage figures for 16 Alberta municipalities.
Canmore ranked the highest, with a living wage of $38.80. Edmonton came in more than a full dollar below Calgary, at $22.25.
Medicine Hat has the lowest living wage of the Alberta municipalities calculated, at $17.35.
Living wages in most Alberta communities rose this year. ALWN said rising shelter and electricity costs largely contributed to the increase.
The report said annual shelter costs, which include rent, electricity and tenant insurance, increased for a Calgary family of four by 17 per cent year-over-year – up to $23,916 in 2023 from $20,451 last year.
Some government benefits, such as the Canada Child Benefit and Canada Dental Benefit, helped keep costs a bit lower for Alberta families.
Without temporary benefits like the Federal Grocery Rebate, Alberta’s affordability payments and the Alberta Fuel Tax Relief Program, ALWN said the living wage would have been higher, at $24.60.
Living wages are determined by calculating average expenses, taxes and government benefits for a single household.
The calculation is based on the average income needs between three household types: two parents with two young children, a single parent with one child and a single adult.
Breaking the wage down by each group in Calgary, the single parent household has the highest living wage at $31.07, followed by a single adult ($24.15) and family of four ($22.17).
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