Mackenzie's first certified Living Wage Employer

Purple Bicycle Natural Foods has become the first certified Living Wage Employer in Mackenzie, BC. The store has committed to pay their staff and contracted workers a living wage by certifying as Living Wage Employer.

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 Northern BC is $16.52 an hour.

"My team has always felt like my family.  They deserve to be treated with respect and dignity and care, always.  They deserve to be paid the same way." Cara Bowen, Owner of Purple Bicycle Natural Foods.

Purple Bicycle Natural Foods sells groceries, cosmetics and supplements. They have a diverse selection of nutritional supplements and vitamins to help boost and augment a healthy diet, natural cleaning and body care products (free of harsh chemicals), essential oils, healthy snacks, teas and Fair Trade coffees.

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.

“We’re delighted that Purple Bicycle has become a Living Wage Employer. We hope it encourages other employers in Northern BC 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

Over the past two years, the number of Living Wage Employers in BC has more than doubled – there are now nearly 400 Living Wage Employers in 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.

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