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How can Oakville businesses afford to pay living wages?

Among the thousands of local businesses in Oakville, only seven have earned a certification for paying all staff a fair, living wage. Those owners spoke with Oakville News on why paying living wages is good for business
Oakville_Chamber_of_Commerce
Oakville Chamber of Commerce new head office at 295 Robinson Street.

According to the town of Oakville's website Invest Oakville, there are nearly 10,000 businesses operating in Oakville across a variety of sectors. Among that list, only seven are accredited for paying their staff enough money to actually afford living in Oakville.

That's right - seven. That's less than 0.1% of all businesses in town actually paying their full staff a sufficient salary to cover Oakville's high cost of living.

Oakville News reached out to several leaders from these businesses, hoping to gain insights into what it took to earn this certification and why paying their employees a living wage is important to them.

The Ontario Living Wage Network (OLWN) is a provincial not-for-profit that calculates the minimum wages needed in regions across Ontario for people living there to cover an average cost of regular life.

OLWN also offers certifications for businesses across Ontario that any place of business can apply for, so long as they can prove they pay all members of staff working for them the current living wage for their region or higher.

In Oakville, the 2023 rate (like all of the greater Toronto area) was $25.05 or more per hour. (Two separate investigations from Oakville News have previously found Oakville's hourly rate is estimated to be even higher.)

Read more here: New living wage in Oakville now over $25/hour for 2023

November is Living Wage Month in Canada, according to Living Wage Canada, and new rates will be published for Halton region next Monday, Nov. 18.

But before those are published, Oakville News conducted a special report speaking with the seven local business owners who already are certified for paying Oakville's living wage, and learning from them how they afford - and how their businesses still thrive while paying people enough to live on.

Oakville News reporters set out to answer two key questions: Why do these businesses pay all their employees a living wage? And how has it impacted their operations?

How does the Living Wage work?

To have been accredited as a Certified Living Wage Employer in Oakville this year, the business must be able to prove that all full-time employees of the business currently make a minimum of $25.05 per hour, which was the GTA rate for 2023.

Currently, there are seven businesses in Oakville with this accreditation:

  • Just Like Family Home Care
  • Cudmore’s Landscape and Design
  • Oakville Maids Inc.
  • Home Suite Hope
  • Hellamaid
  • Oakville Community Foundation
  • Canadian Mental Health Association - Halton Branch

Oakville News staff reached out to all seven, asking them how their businesses have been impacted - for better or worse - once they changed to paying living wages. Five responded, and all were unanimously encouraging of the program.

What made you decide to change your business to paying everyone a living wage?

Canadian Mental Health Association - Halton Branch: Alison Purvis, Director of People, Culture & Strategy

"During the pandemic we had a number of our staff move out of region as affordability became a challenge in Halton," said Purvis. 

"CMHA Halton as an organization has always had a community feel and it is important for us that our people are also part of community.  We realized we needed to become more competitive to attract and retain staff to continue offering much needed services in the Halton community."

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Canadian Mental Health Association - Halton Branch. Ben Brown/Oakville News

Home Suite Hope: Sara Cumming, Executive Director

"We are an organization aimed at lifting homeless single parents out of poverty by giving them the tools they need to be successful. My staff had many of those tools--they all have college or university degrees and supportive networks and they all had full-time employment and yet wages were not allowing them to take the next steps in their lives," said Cumming.

"The wages were okay when they were living at home with their parents but not as they were trying to launch in their lives. I found this very problematic and went to the board with the proposal to ensure that we lived up to our vision and mission with our staff too," she continued. 

"Everyone should earn a living wage. The board unanimously agreed and we became a living wage employer."

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Executive Director of Home Suite Hope, Sara Cumming. Submitted, Courtesy of Home Suite Hope

Just Like Family Home Care: Jason Paul, Director of Community Engagement

"Becoming a member of the Ontario Living Wage Network was a decision we came to when we decided to start our business," said Paul.

"We felt that if our employees were not earning enough to get themselves to work that we as employers would be doing something wrong. We know that our employees are a reflection of our leadership and without their happiness our clients would not be getting the best care they deserve."

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Just Like Family Home Care logo. Submitted, Courtesy of Jason Paul

Oakville Maids: Greg Shepard, CEO

"We've always paid a living wage as we believe that the people are the most important aspect of a business," Shepard said. "Nowadays, many companies take advantage of their employees to compete on price, and that's not our philosophy. To have the best talent and get them to stay with you, you pay them what they deserve."

"We compete on quality, and that makes all the difference," continued Shepard. "Having this certification shows our customers that we value the people who work hard to keep their homes comfortable."

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Oakville Maids CEO Greg Shepard. Submitted, Courtesy of Greg Shepard

Oakville Community Foundation: Wendy Rinella, CEO

"It was part of our 2022-2025 strategic plan to be an employer of choice and that meant to be a living wage employer. We have benefited from many years of long term employees and we felt that it was one way to ensure continuity for the foundation and our community partners."

How has your business changed for the better or worse?

Canadian Mental Health Association - Halton Branch: Alison Purvis, Director of People, Culture & Strategy

"Paying a living wage indicates to both our current staff as well as potential candidates demonstrates that we see the value our employees. We believe that paying a living wage has helped us attract talented people and demonstrates that we are living our vision of ensuring ‘responsive mental health care for all’ through the caring of our staff."

Home Suite Hope: Sara Cumming, Executive Director

"We have way more quality candidates applying for jobs then we ever have. The staff indicate that they feel valued and aren't searching for better paying jobs because they're happy here. This doesn't mean it's not a bit tricky or difficult in this current economy," said Cumming.

"Inflation is such that being a living wage employer means wages must keep up to the pace of inflation. Not for profits have been hit particularly hard this past year as donations and grants are low but costs are up," she continued. 

"Forecasting for next year with the rising living wage means even more expenses. However I will hold strong in my belief that we need to stay true to our mission and vision for our participants and for our staff."

Just Like Family Home Care: Jason Paul, Director of Community Engagement

"Because our employees wages are higher than the majority of our competition we are able to draw higher quality caregivers. Usually, when we have a great caregiver they have friends who are also great and want to work with us," Paul said.

"This helps us maintain employees. A lot of caregivers work for multiple agencies to maximize their hours. When a caregiver is offered a shift from us and another agency they almost always choose the shift with Just Like Family home Care. Because we are able to keep our employees happy, our clients are happy. We often have our clients refer friends and family about our services."

Oakville Community Foundation: Wendy Rinella, CEO

"Outside of retirements and moving away from Oakville, no staff have departed. While other organizations have experienced considerable change-over, we believe this practice has served us well."

"It has required us to be attentive to the changing economic environment as inflation was escalating mid-year and we had to make adjustments. However it is an important initiative to ensure trust with our staff."

Oakville Maids: Greg Shepard, CEO

"Fortunately, I can only say that paying a living wage has impacted our business for the better. Having a talented team that does not need to worry about making ends meet leads to greater job satisfaction and performance, and that has been one of our secrets to success," said Shepard.

"We also reward top performers. By paying our team based on their hard work and dedication, we ensure that our best people are recognized and incentivized."

A final 2024 report from the OLWN will be published next week, including the revised living wages for Oakville and the GTA.

Ben Brown, Tyler Collins, Ramona Leitao and other members of Oakville News' staff contributed to this story.



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