Northern Ont. living wage rises to $21.10 for 2025

The living wage for northern Ont. is now $21.10. Officials say the rate, calculated based on essentials like rent and transportation, is crucial for health.

A coalition of agencies has unveiled the updated living wage for northern Ontario, setting the rate at $21.10 per hour for 2025.

The announcement was made Monday to mark the beginning of Living Wage Week, Nov. 10-14.

The new rate is an 80-cent increase from the previous year and is $3.50 above the provincial minimum wage.

Officials from the Sudbury Workers Education and Advocacy Centre, Public Health Sudbury & Districts and the United Way Centraide North East Ontario emphasized the significant shortfall this gap creates for low-income workers.

“If you’re working full time on (minimum) wage, you’re going to be earning $122.50 less than what you need every week in order to cover your rent, to cover your bills and, you know, enjoy some food,” said Scott Florence, the advocacy centre’s executive director.

“That gap is largely driven by the cost of rent … and then one of the other driving factors in the north is the additional cost of transportation.”

Direct link between income and health

The Ontario Living Wage Network calculates the figure annually based on the costs of essentials, including food, housing, transportation and childcare.

Public health officials directly connected income levels to population health outcomes, stating that financial stress has profound physiological effects.

“If you don’t have enough income, you’re not able to pay for some of the basic necessities of life. More difficult to pay for shelter, which protects you from the elements, more difficult to pay for food, which is important to nourish your body and give it the nutrients to be healthy. More difficult to pay for things like education to give you the advancement and fulfillment in life,” said acting medical officer of health Dr. Mustafa Hirji.

“But even more fundamentally, if you’re struggling to earn income to pay the bills, you have a level of stress in your body which changes the hormone balance in your body, which is shown to give you premature aging and to develop other health problems.”

Calls for sustainable change

The United Way framed the living wage as a critical first step in creating lasting change, moving beyond temporary charity.

Katherine Cockburn, the United Way director of philanthropy for the region, underscored the collective responsibility.

“Charity is not going to be able to solve all of our problems around poverty in our community,” Cockburn said.

“Coming together and really discussing that livable wage for individuals to be able to access is that first step of sustainable change within our community.”

Florence issued a call to action for local employers, encouraging them to become certified with the Ontario Living Wage Network, highlighting the business benefits of being a “decent work employer.”

“We know that when an employer is a decent work employer, when they pay a living wage, when they treat their employees well, employee morale increases,” said Florence.

Public Health Sudbury & Districts is one employer that has already adopted the living wage for its staff.

Hirji acknowledged the challenge but affirmed its priority.

“It was difficult to make that work for our budget,” he said.

“We’ve put that over the priority, and I encourage all employers out in the region to do that, as well. If we can all choose to do this, we can all be acting collectively to raise the health of people in our community.”

To learn more about how the living wage is calculated, visit Ontario Living Wage Network’s website.