Here's how much you need to earn to afford Toronto vs. elsewhere in Ontario
There is nowhere in Ontario that you can comfortably get by on minimum wage anymore, a new report shows, as the hourly rate required to afford life in and around Toronto just keeps pushing higher.
The Ontario Living Wage Network regularly assesses the cost of basic goods and services such as food, rent, clothing, transportation, communications and medical expenses, and comes up with a per-hour amount that households would need to earn in different parts of the province to meet these needs.
Per the group’s latest report, released on Monday, the living wage in the GTA amid inflationary pressures has climbed to $25.05 an hour for a single adult, which is a jump of more than 8% from last year’s estimate of $23.15 and 13% from 2021’s figure of $22.08.
This makes the region — not even downtown Toronto specifically — up to 34% more expensive to live in than other parts of the province.
Ontario’s cheapest locale to live in, Southwest, now has an approximate living wage of $18.65, followed by London-Elgin-Oxford at $18.85. Comparatively, the wage needed to reside in a more populous city like Hamilton is now $20.80 per hour, and in Ottawa, $22.75.
Somewhat surprising is the amount you need to make to cover basic expenses in Grey Bruce Perth Huron Simcoe, which could be considered “the boonies” to some in TO: $22.75 an hour, making it the second-priciest region in the province.
“Rental and food inflation continue to drive up living wage rates… [and] the rising cost of living impacts those at the bottom of the wage spectrum the most,” the report reads.
It adds that a living wage is a crucial measure as it is “much closer to reality than the politically set minimum wage,” which just increased to $16.55 at the start of last month.
Unforgivable. Unsustainable. Inhumane.
— DH (@d0j0h) July 18, 2023
Other estimates for the income needed to make ends meet in Toronto are even more brutal, with one study from Policy Alternatives indicating that an individual needs to rake in a minimum of $33.60 hourly to afford rent for a one-bedroom unit in the city.
And if you want to save for a home, you can just forget about it, as you’ll need an annual salary of $165,000 (or about $80 an hour) to be able to afford the average condo here, or a whopping $236,000($113 an hour) for the average single-family home.
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