Alternatives North is proud to announce the NWT 2019 Living Wage employers. Living Wage employers are those who are able to commit to offering a Living Wage to their full-time employees.
In order to earn a wage that allows for a decent standard of living, each parent in a family of four would have to earn $23.95/hr in Yellowknife, $24.75/hr in Hay River and $23.78/hr in Inuvik working 37.5 hours per week according to Alternatives North.
“Living Wage rates show what it takes to live decently in the NWT. To ensure this basic standard of living, we can either raise wages, decrease costs or increase subsidies,” Alternatives North’s Suzette Montreuil, who led recalculation efforts said. “Either way, we have to do something to help lower-income working residents.”
The calculations use the methodology of the Canadian Living Wage Framework. The bare-bones budget includes shelter, food, clothing, transportation, childcare, health care services and supplies, and a small emergency fund, Montreuil added.
The budget does not include paying debts, saving money, helping other family members financially or owning a pet, among other things.
Alternatives North provided this list to Moose News of employers who are able to commit to offering a Living Wage to their full-time employees:
- NWT Seniors Society
- Dene Nahjo
- Top of the World Travel
- Institute for Circumpolar Health Research
- Yellowknife Education District #1
- NWT Literacy Council
- YWCA NWT
- Crowe MacKay LLP
- Collège nordique francophone
- Ecology North
- Alternatives North
Other NWT employers interested in becoming an official Living Wage Employer can contact Alternatives North. Alternatives North is a social justice coalition operating in the Northwest Territories.
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