Living Wage Employer
Effective January 1st, 2011, the City of New Westminster became a “Living Wage Employer” – the first City in Canada to do so. As such, the City has established a Living Wage Policy that requires all firms that are contracted directly or subcontracted by the City to provide services on City premises to pay their employees who perform the services a Living Wage as calculated by the Living Wage for Families Campaign. The current living wage rate for Metro Vancouver is $25.68 per hour, assuming the employer provides no benefits.
In order to determine an employee’s hourly rate with benefits the Living Wage for Families Campaign has provided a Living Wage Calculator to assist with this determination.
The City has included in all its competitive bid documents a Declaration and a clause referencing the City’s expectations with regards to compliance of the Policy. Completion and submission of the Declaration before an award is mandatory.