Minimum wage couldn't land you a 1-bedroom unit years ago. Now, it's even worse

Tuesday, July 18, 2023 - By John McHutchion

Here’s what you need to know to get the day started:

Minimum wage couldn't land you a 1-bedroom unit years ago. Now, it's even worse.

Toronto resident Sylvana Orellana, 23, says she's struggling to pay rent, provide for herself and her son and cover daily expenses while earning minimum wage, even with support from friends and family. (Darek Zdzienicki/CBC)

Toronto resident Sylvana Orellana, who earns minimum wage, says paying for her and her two-year-old son's expenses often means sacrificing some bills in order to pay others.

That's because her rent — just over $1,700 per month — takes up a significant amount of her income, and she says she routinely relies on family and friends to help.

"It's sad to say, but at this point I don't even look at the numbers or how much they're paying me because … it's not going to cover my bills," said Orellana, 23. "I almost ended up in the hospital because of all of this stress."

A new report released Tuesday by Ottawa think-tank Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives suggests Orellana isn't alone.

Economists David Macdonald and Ricardo Tranjan, the report's authors, found that while minimum wages rose compared to the 2018 data in the centre's last report, they aren't rising as fast as rental rates.

Macdonald says this means many workers are spending too much on rent, while Tranjan says the high cost of rent can ultimately mean that people making minimum wage are at risk of becoming homeless.

"Minimum wages are supposed to improve the conditions of folks that are at or near the poverty line," said Macdonald. "But in fact those improvements in minimum wage have largely gone to paying landlords higher rent."

"I'm concerned about minimum wage workers and the kinds of very risky situations they must be putting themselves through," said Tranjan.

Their analysis, which covered 776 neighbourhoods in more than three dozen of the country's largest cities, calculated how much people have to make in a 40-hour work week in order to pay no more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, something they call the "rental wage."

Paying any more than that makes housing "unaffordable," according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The co-authors say a lack of affordable housing isn't just a problem in huge urban centres. Using provincial and federal data from 2022, they found the rental wage for a one-bedroom unit is higher than the minimum wage in most major cities across the country.

More on this issue

Read the full story here.

As housing costs soar, some financial analysts advise to scrap the 30% rule.

How long do Canadians in need have to wait for affordable housing? Depends where they live.

Much of Europe, U.S. grapple with scorching temperatures

(Stelios Misinas/Reuters)

Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire burning in Saronida, near Athens, Greece, on Monday. Wildfires in Europe raged ahead of a second heat wave in two weeks that was forecast to send temperatures as high as 48 C in some areas. In the United States, a quarter of the population was under extreme heat advisories yesterday. Read the story here.

In brief

Grieving parents say their nine-year-old son died last week after a severe asthma attack made worse by wildfire smoke engulfing parts of British Columbia. Amber Vigh said her youngest son, Carter, died in the emergency room with his parents at his side last Tuesday. "They tried everything ... I just stood there and just told him that I loved him and just to breathe," Amber said from her home near 100 Mile House, B.C., on Monday. "This time was just different." Vigh's death comes as smoke from more than 360 wildfires sends air quality across B.C. plummeting, particularly in central and northern areas of the province. Government officials and health authorities have warned people with pre-existing conditions in those areas to be cautious, acknowledging the contaminated air can make a person sicker or hasten their death. The B.C. Coroners Service issued a public safety bulletin yesterday warning of the risks of wildfire smoke and calling the death of Vigh a "heartbreaking loss." Read the full story here.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants who enter Canada annually are required to take a language test. But their scores expire within the next two years — one of many problems critics have with the test. The Canadian government invited 431,645 permanent residents into the country last year — a record high. Most are required to be proficient in either English or French. Applicants can attempt either of the two tests recognized by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada — the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program or the International English Language Testing System. Both cost more than $250. There are also French tests that have the same validity period and cost about the same. Results from a language test are also sometimes required when immigrants enrol in university or apply for work permits. The price of the exam, and potentially having to pay to take it multiple times, is just one issue advocates and prospective residents have with the test. Some see it as an insufficient way of assessing someone's candidacy for residence in Canada. Read more on this story here.

Renters in B.C. have received notices from landlords warning them against installing air conditioning units in their suites, or risk jeopardizing their tenancies. CBC News has spoken to tenants in multiple buildings under different management companies who have expressed frustration after landlords denied their requests to install air conditioning units, just weeks after the province announced a program to provide air conditioners to eligible British Columbians. In June, the government said it would provide 8,000 units to medically vulnerable low-income households over the next three years. In a related program, B.C. Hydro is offering residential customers $50 off the purchase of a qualifying air conditioner until July 28. Health Minister Adrian Dix said at least 50 per cent of the free air conditioning units were expected to be installed in apartments or multi-unit dwellings. But weeks later, tenants and tenant advocates are speaking out, saying their landlords have discouraged them from using air conditioning units. Read the full story here.

Ever hear the saying, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity?" Well, it’s actually both. When hot temperatures mix with humid weather, it makes us feel warmer — and that’s a dangerous recipe. Climate change is likely to contribute to more hot and humid days across Canada, but every region is different. To help you gauge just how hot it could feel in your area, CBC News crunched the latest humidex projections. Use this tool to calculate how climate change could affect the number of muggy days where you live.

Now here's some good news to start your Tuesday: Of the more than 40,000 achievements in the Guinness World Record database, some are obvious — tallest woman, fastest marathon or most pull-ups. Others, like the one Bobby Dubeau says he's accomplished, are less so. While he's still awaiting the official certification, Dubeau says he's become the fastest person to catch a game at every Canadian Football League stadium. The Delta, B.C., man says he saw a game at all nine home fields in 15 days. "It's a pretty weird thing to do," Dubeau told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "I thought it'd be pretty neat to see every stadium," he said. "Once I thought I could do it pretty quickly, I thought, 'Hey, might as well shoot my shot, try to get in the Guinness book.'" Read more on Dubeau's story here.

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Today in history: July 18

1926: Author Margaret Laurence is born in Neepawa, Man. Her first major novel in a Canadian setting was 1964's The Stone Angel, considered a landmark in Canadian literature. Her other works include A Jest of God and The Diviners.

1932: Canada and the U.S. sign a treaty laying the groundwork for what eventually became the St. Lawrence Seaway.

1945: An ammunition barge blows up at Bedford Basin in Halifax. Fire spread to the dock where more ammunition was being stored, setting off explosions that continued into the next day. One person died and thousands of residents of Dartmouth and north Halifax had to evacuate their homes.

1976: Performing on the uneven bars at the Summer Olympics in Montreal, 14-year-old Romanian Nadia Comaneci scores the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics history.

(With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters)