Minimum wage employees finding it hard to live in Toronto

As the price of food and rent goes up, young people in Toronto are finding it hard to make ends meet, oftentimes picking and choosing between hanging out with friends and buying groceries.

"I do go out very often but everything is getting expensive," Abby Aquino, a server at Vi Pei Bistro, told blogTO.

"It makes everything harder if you want a good social life and enjoy stuff. You definitely have to budget."

Ontario raised the minimum wage on October 1 to $16.55 an hour from $15.50 claiming it as a way to support workers. But employees are finding it's not enough.

A living wage in Toronto is 100k plus. Minimum wage is never going to be a living wage

— Posty Chats (@BarSolara) October 3, 2023

"Currently with inflation it's not enough to survive," said Aquino.

She works part-time and is studying to become a teacher. She currently lives at home with her parents.

Zahid Irfan works at Enrico's Pizza in the Scarborough.

"It's really hard to rent right now," said Irfan. "It's so expensive."

He is concerned it will only get more expensive to live in the city if inflation continues to go up. He makes minimum wage at the restaurant and works as a delivery driver to afford rent.

"We won't be able to afford anything, if it continues to go like that," said Irfan.

$16.55 x 40 (hrs a week) = $662
$662 x 4 weeks = $2648 (before taxes)
$2648 is less or equals MINIMUM one bedroom current rental price in GTA.
And how about food, transportation, medicines etc?
This balance between income & expenditures is characteristics of THIRD level country

— Eugene Tach (@EugeneTkach1) October 1, 2023

Advocacy group Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN) finds the minimum wage increase falls short of a living wage anywhere in the province.

"We know that those who are working for minimum wages are not just entering the workforce," said Craig Pickthorne, communications coordinator at OLWN.

"The majority are now over the age of twenty and have households to support and bills to pay."

It states a living wage is what a worker needs to cover their basic expenses and participate in their community.

A living wage in Toronto would need to be $23.15 per hour, noting it is necessary as more people are facing choices on whether to buy food, heat their homes or pay their rent.