Food Bank of Waterloo Region says the province’s minimum wage increase ‘falls far short’

The Food Bank of Waterloo Region is calling on the province to set living wage for workers across the province, after the premier announced a $15/hour minimum wage bump-up on Tuesday.

The living wage for Waterloo Region, according to the Ontario Living Wage Network is $17.20/hour.

Living wage covers the costs associated with basic needs like food and shelter and includes access to benefits. 

A release from The Food Bank of Waterloo Region states that the proposed minimum wage hike falls far short of what Ontario residents need to meet daily financial obligations.

Appearing on Kitchener Today on CityNews 570 Thursday, Wendi Campbell, CEO of Food Bank of Waterloo Region said that while the Food Bank appreciates the provincial government's efforts to help Ontarians and thinks it's a good start, she wants to see more being done.

“We're all going to be in a better place in our community if we have access to great wages, great jobs, income that isn't scattered, and that stability that families need to be able to thrive,” she said.

She said while she isn't an economic expert, food banks have been seeing people who had incomes access services. 

With the recent release of the HungerCount report by Food Banks Canada presenting findings that food insecurity will get worse in Canada, Campbell said she also wants to see increased measures to tackle insecurities in the labour market.

She said, “We're heading into this perfect storm where we've got rising housing prices, there is still a level of unemployment, people still have huge barriers about getting back to work, and now we're dealing with rising food prices.” 

Campbell added that while the job of the food bank is the food piece of the puzzle, the pandemic has opened the door for more conversations about ensuring economic security.

“Let's address some of the root causes of food insecurity and poverty and start talking about broader policy change, whether it be at the federal level, the provincial level, the local level, or even sort of what we can do as community partners to really support people in different ways,” she said.