A vital tool for comparing cost of living on Salt Spring with other parts of the country, the Living Wage Report also aims to look at the change in living expenses over time. The report includes variations on the living wage for three different family types: a family of four, a single parent family, and a single person. The 2025 Salt Spring Living Wage is the weighted average of living wage for those combined 3 different household types, rounded to the nearest 5 cents.

The 2025 report highlights adjustments, increases, and additions that were not in the 2024 calculation, including:

• A placeholder value has been added for before/after school childcare and professional development (PD) days to increase accuracy of comparison with other communities including that cost, even though there are no public facilities offering this care on Salt Spring.
• Annual ferry transportation cost was increased by 4 trips to reflect a more accurate average travel volume per household.
• Moderate increases in food, shelter, and childcare account for the rest of the increase.

“This report aims to enable comparisons of costs facing islanders within our community and also to compare cost of living across Canada using an “apples to apples” method. The calculation is a standardized approach vetted by Living Wage BC and endorsed by BC Policy Solutions and Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. This marks the first year over year report on cost of living increases on Salt Spring, with 2025 coming in at an average hourly wage of $28.45 as compared to the 2024 value of $26.25,” shared Shannon Cowan, the Foundation’s Executive Director.

“The driving force behind the Foundation’s involvement in producing Salt Spring’s Living Wage Report is the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #1 of poverty alleviation. It’s an important tool to inspire community reflection on the many ways islanders’ cost of living needs can be met,” added Walter Stewart, the Foundation’s Board Chair.

The 2025 Salt Spring Island Living Wage Report is available for download here.

Additional Resources

Living Wage BC has released their Salt Spring Island briefing report. It includes an overview of provincial living wage data and states that over 500 BC employers have adopted living wage policies, with over 98% of Living Wage Employers in BC having found a benefit from being part of the program, such as lowering staff turnover and increasing productivity.

Common Questions Answered

“Why is the living wage higher for a single person than a single parent?”

First, the official living wage is the weighted average of all 3 family types – it’s inaccurate to think workers can be paid differently based on their family type.

Second, the wage that meets family expenses is lower for the single parent on Salt Spring Island because of government benefits, such as the Canada Child Benefit, the BC Family Benefit, GST credit and the Rental Assistance Program. The single parent calculation shows that the family qualifies for nearly $14,000 in 2025 in various government benefits, not including the BC Affordable Child Care Benefit which is paid directly to the child care provider and reduces out-of-pocket costs for the family.

In contrast, the single person receives only $705 in government benefits in 2025.