Nelson's newest Living Wage Employer

Nelson Community Food Centre is the latest employer in Nelson to become a certified Living Wage Employer. It has committed to pay its staff and contracted workers a Living Wage. 

The living wage is the hourly amount a family needs to cover basic expenses. The calculation is based on a two-parent family with two children – the most common family unit in BC – with each parent working full-time. The Living Wage for Nelson is $19.56 an hour.

"Nelson Community Food Centre is proud to be a certified Living Wage Employer. It's important to us, as a Community Food Centre that serves those facing adversity, to ensure that folks are supported in their daily lives and are treated with dignity and respect, whether they are participants in our programs, volunteers or paid staff. We hope that our certification sparks discussion, reflection and increased certification from other organizations in Nelson and the surrounding area." Jessica Chant, Nelson Community Food Centre

Nelson Community Food Centre strives to create a welcoming environment where people can access healthy food, join a cooking or gardening program, and be a part of a community-centred on nutritious food and fun social activities.

They join Community Futures Central Kootenay, Green Team Solutions, Kootenay Career Development Society and West Kootenay EcoSociety in trying to end child poverty in Nelson by certifying as a Living Wage Employer.

Most children growing up in poverty in BC live with at least one adult working full-time, full-year. In other words, child poverty in BC is very much a low-wage story. For most of the past decade, BC’s child-poverty rate has remained at one in five children living in poverty.

“As the cost of food has increased across BC, it couldn’t be more timely that Nelson Community Food Centre has become a Living Wage Employer. We hope it encourages other employers to join the Living Wage movement. Paying a living wage is good for workers, employers and the local community” said Anastasia French, Living Wage for Families BC

Employers have found paying a living wage to be a key tool in their post-Covid economic recovery. 97% of Living Wage Employers in BC have found some benefit to being part of the program. Over the past two years, the number of Living Wage Employers in BC has more than doubled – there are now 350 Living Wage Employers in BC.

Certifying as a Living Wage Employer is a voluntary commitment employers make to invest in their communities and local economies.