Vancouver School Board no longer certified as living wage employer

Two recent moves impacting students and staff at Vancouver school are coming under scrutiny.

The Vancouver School Board will no longer be a living wage employer, citing significant yearly fluctuations in the rate.

A living wage is the hourly amount that a worker needs to earn to afford basic essentials like food and rent. The current rate for Metro Vancouver is $27.05.

The VSB said it will not equip contractors with supplemental funding to provide their employees with wages that align with Living Wage B.C’s hourly rate.

The VSB became a Living Wage employer in 2022.

Anastasia French, the provincial manager of Living Wage BC, said she was disappointed by the decision, which largely impacts contractors such as bus drivers and attendants who support students with disabilities.

“They’ll be receiving a 25 per cent pay cut,” she said. “Because the Vancouver School Board won’t be topping up their pay.”

French said she understands it can be challenging for organizations to commit to the Living Wage, but said she’s hopeful the VSB will be able to change course.

“There’s no reason – besides the fact it’s going to cost some money — why the school board can’t continue to pay these workers a living wage,” she said.

In an email obtained by CTV News, contractors were told the VSB Living Wage Supplement came, “to an earlier than anticipated close,” and were notified wages would return to standard hourly rates. Contractors were also initially told the wage supplement would conclude only days later on April 7.

A follow-up statement by the VSB apologized, stating it provided an incorrect date.

The changes will come into effect no sooner than July 1, 2025.

One school board union, IUOE Local 963, is urging the VSB to reinstate the policy.

“The wage cuts to the lowest paid workers should be rescinded immediately and the Living Wage BC standard restored,” said IUOE Local 963 Business Manager Tim De Vivo in a statement.

Jennifer Reddy, a Vancouver School Board Trustee with One City, said she will be tabling a motion during this year’s budget to see what it would take for the VSB to renew its role as a Living Wage employer.

“That money has been a part of our budgeting process, so why stop now?” she asked. “We’ve already brought it to 2025. Let’s continue it and be really proud of being a living wage employer. That’s the point of it.”