Vancouver architecture firm becomes a certified Living Wage Employer

Local Practice Architecture + Design Ltd 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 Metro-Vancouver is $20.52 an hour.

“While we are able to pay these wages as a part of our base business operations, we recognize that all of our lives are made poorer in an unequal society. We wanted to help raise awareness of this important issue and celebrate the good work of grass roots community groups such as First Call BC Child and Youth Advocacy Society by certifying as a Living Wage Employer.” Matthew Woodruff Local Practice Architecture + Design Ltd

Local Practice Architecture + Design is a regenerative design practice comprised of architects, strategists, artists and sustainability experts. They offer a range of architectural, project definition, feasibility, and strategic design services and specialize in sustainable rating systems (including Living Building Challenge, Envision, Passive House, and LEED), modelling and technical analysis (including BIM, energy modelling, daylight studies, material and life cycle analysis), and an understanding of evolving ecological & climate policy. Projects include schools, daycares, park buildings, affordable housing, water reservoirs and treatment plants, research laboratories, and collaborative hubs and hybrids of all kinds seeking new models for holistic sustainability. Local Practice Architecture currently has a staff of 15.

“We’re delighted that Local Practice has become a Living Wage Employer. We hope it builds the foundations for 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

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.

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.

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.