Call to Action: Recertify Vancouver as A Living Wage Employer

Pay workers a dignified and decent wage.

Sent on January 20, 2026 by Sacia Burton and Chantelle Spicer, BC Poverty Reduction Coalition
RE: Support for Councillors Maloney and Fry’s motion “Good Pay for Good People's Work: Recertifying Vancouver as a Living Wage Employer” for Council’s consideration on January 21, 2026.

As an organization working towards dignity for all who call BC home, we encourage you to consider the impacts of returning to your commitment to be a Living Wage employer. All City of Vancouver workers should, at minimum, be assured that their full-time wage will meet their basic needs in the city they choose to call home. 

This motion offers a clear action that Council can take today to ensure the financial stability of the 9,500+ workers you employ. By recommitting to the Living Wage employer certification, you have the opportunity to ensure that City of Vancouver employees are able to afford groceries, pay their utilities, cover the cost of childcare, access decent transportation options, and pay for a place to live within the city often dubbed “impossibly unaffordable”. If this Council wishes to act in line with City precedent, the Healthy City Strategy commits to “continually improv[ing] the conditions that allow everyone to enjoy the highest level of health and well-being possible.” Futher, if you wish to build a city that we love, you must appropriately pay the people who do the daily work of realizing these plans. 

Despite the shifting sands of BC’s economy, your Council colleagues across BC remain committed Living Wage employers. In order to retain the valuable social infrastructure of City of Vancouver’s workers, it is crucial to pay those workers a dignified and decent wage.