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

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).