As the cost of living keeps rising, so does that amount that the Ontario Living Wage Network says people need to be making to keep up with it. According to the network, people living in Waterloo Region and surrounding areas need to earn $23.40/h to stay financially afloat. The dollar value was increased by 40 cents compared to last year’s results. Even following Ontario’s minimum wage increase to $17.95 in October, the livable wage figure still sits more than $5 above. The report is broken into nine regions, which lumps Waterloo Region, Guelph, and Dufferin and Wellington counties into one bracket. The annual findings are calculated through cost-of-living expenses such as housing, food, transportation and recreational costs. Hundreds of businesses across the province have committed to paying that living wage amount through a certification process with the network. Henry’s Tempeh is a Kitchener-bases food manufacturer who has held the certification since 2016. The company’s co-owner Philip Diceanu told CTV News they decided to commit to paying their current seven employees fairly when he became and owner after growing up working for the establishment. “We had this great perspective of ‘okay, we used to work here on the production line, now we own this thing’, and we really wanted to keep that perspective in mind and have something that would push us along to set up our pricing and all our goals around,” he explained. “Every year our goal is to pay everyone more and that would be the fairest thing to do.” Diceanu added that increasing wages isn’t always easy as a small business, but it’s the right thing to do. “We’re the ones taking up bigger costs in terms of better ingredients and not taking shortcuts on the production line,” he said. “At the end of the day, the gains you get from employee happiness and retention are well worth it for sure.” On Tuesday, it will become public what other businesses in Waterloo Region have joined the list of certified companies over the last year as the network will post its updated certifications. Diceanu said having the accreditation has been more than symbolic and has also had practical benefits when talking with buyers or being reviewed by retailers. “They’ll ask us what certifications we have and we’ll mention that we are a certified living wage [employer]. It’s usually not on their ticks for their sorts of policies, it’s rarely around wages,” he explained. “But I think for anyone on the fence [about becoming certified], it’s just doing the right thing.”
