Minimum wage not a living wage in city

By Lethbridge Herald on November 14, 2025.

Nathan Reiter
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

United Way is raising the alarm about the cost of living in Alberta.

United Way Lethbridge and South Western Alberta collaborated with the Alberta Living Wage Network (ALWN) to calculate a living wage for Lethbridge and several other communities in the province.

According to ALWN, the living wage for Lethbridge is $22.30 per hour, an increase of $2.30 from last year. The living wage is calculated based on the income needs of three household types: a two parent family with two young children, a lone parent family with one child and a single individual. It assumes each adult works full-time hours and includes saving for unexpected costs, education, child care and a small amount to participate in the community.

Alberta’s current minimum wage is $15 an hour, which is the lowest in Canada. The opposition NDP will call for a vote on Bill 201 in the Legislature Monday to raise the minimum wage by a dollar per year for the next years.

Jaci Zalesak, the executive director of United Way Lethbridge and South Western Alberta, says Lethbridge ranks in the middle of the communities calculated for a living wage. 

“Every community has a different cost of living. It certainly is based on all of those factors that are included to be a part of a community. Every community has a different cost of living for transportation, child care and housing, all of those different things. There are different gaps certainly between one community and another on what it costs to live. You really have to take a look at what the calculations are for each community. We are probably in the middle of the pack for what it costs to live in the 21 different communities that we did calculate and it certainly is an affordability crisis in Alberta.”

According to the release, women (six in 10 minimum wage earners) and immigrants (one in three) are disproportionally affected by the gap between the current Alberta minimum wage of $15 per hour and the living wage. 

Zalesak says an increase in the minimum wage, along with other policy decisions by all levels of government are long overdue. 

“We haven’t seen a minimum wage increase since October of 2018. More affordable housing would certainly make a difference in supporting people in our communities. There’s about 16,000 minimum wage earners that support a child under 18, and three out of every 10 minimum wage earners are in the heads of households. Often people that are earning minimum wage have to take on multiple jobs, and that is certainly a strain on their health when they’re having to take on multiple jobs, using social services as well. 

‘“We’d love to be able to see people being able to earn more of a living wage so that there’s a reduction in health care, a reduction in social services, and a benefit to employers where they’re seeing a reduced absenteeism and turnover.”

Zalesak adds that the increase of minimum wage could lead to the decreased use of social services across the province. 

“The more people that are paid a living wage, we would see less people using our social services. People would be able to invest more in the community. They would be able to spend more. We would have people having earning power to spend in their communities and invest in their family’s health and well-being. Businesses would see an increase in productivity and reduced absenteeism and turnover, which is a definite cost to businesses when you’re having to hire on a regular basis. Certainly governments and communities would see a reduction in health care costs and a reduction in social services.”