Calgary’s 2022 Living Wage: This is How Much You Need to Make to Maintain Modest Standard of Living

Published by To Do Canada On November 14, 2022

Vibrant Communities Calgary says residents need to make $22.40 to maintain a modest standard of living in the city.

Vibrant Communities Calgary

A Living Wage, a “proxy for the cost of living in a community”, is not the same as minimum wage as it is calculated using average expenses, taxes, and
government benefits for a given household using local costs. It also considers costs like health insurance, child care, education and savings.

2022 Alberta Living Wage is calculated using a weighted average of the income needs of three household types: a two-parent family with two young children (32.6% weightage), a lone parent with one young child (7.7%), and a single individual with no children (59.6%). The calculation also assumes that all adults in the household are working full-time hours.

Credit: Vibrant Communities Calgary

As per Vibrant Communities Calgary’s calculations, a family of four needs to make $22.05 per hour, a single parent with one child, $28.93 per hour and a single individual, $21.72 per hour to live modestly in Calgary. The weighted average or the 2022 living wage for Calgary is $22.40 per hour. This is 20% higher than Calgary’s 2021 Living Wage and 49% higher than Alberta’s minimum wage of $15 per hour ($13.00 per hour for students under the age of 18).