It costs more money to live in the Cowichan Valley than it does in Kelowna, Fraser Valley, Calgary and even Toronto.
That’s according to Volunteer Cowichan and Social Planning Cowichan who have calculated the living wage here at 17 dollars and 4 cents for each parent in a family of 4.
Social Planning’s Kathleen Shepperd figures it’s primarily because of the cost of housing….
Shepperd says employers can help by adopting a Living Wage Policy which would help to sustain a healthy and capable workforce reducing employee turnover and saving training and replacement costs.
The idea hasn’t been promoted very much here, but Shepperd says there are municipalities in the lower mainland and the City of Vancouver which have adopted the policy.
