It’s National Payroll Week. Regrettably, celebrations do not include an extra paycheque. British Columbians may even be wondering what there is to celebrate at all.
According to the Canadian Payroll Association’s survey of employed Canadians, 53% of British Columbians reported that “it would be difficult to meet their financial obligations if their paycheque was delayed by even a single week.”
Alec Milne of research firm Framework Partners noted, “The data suggests that household income growth has stalled and real incomes have actually declined when inflation is taken into account.”
In 2014, according to the latest numbers from StatsCan, the median income for an individual in B.C. was $31,610, compared to the national median of $32,790.
The percentage of British Columbians earning below $25,000 was 41.6%, or 1.469 million individuals. Add in those earning up to $49,999 and 69.2% earned below $50,000.
B.C.’s seniors advocate, Isobel Mackenzie, raised the alarm in July over the fact that senior families saw their annual median income fall 5.7% and single seniors by 6.3% (over 2013).
Then there’s the side of the ledger that hasn’t stalled: living expenses.
In April 2010, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in B.C. was $876, $983 for a two-bedroom. In 2015, the respective rents were $973 and $1,136, an increase of 11 and 15.6% respectively. The cumulative increase in the consumer price index (CPI) was 9%.
Now try finding an apartment. The vacancy rate over the same period fell from 3.1% to 1.8%, despite an increase of 4,229 units across B.C.
Adding to that, RBC Economics reported in 2010 that increases in its Housing Affordability Index for B.C. “[signalled] that home ownership is really testing the limits of B.C. households’ budgets. Very poor affordability is likely to restrain demand in the period ahead.”
Back then, the average price for a standard condominium in the Vancouver area was $388,800, $688,600 for a single-family detached bungalow .
In June of this year, RBC reported that the average condo price had risen by 26.82% to $493,100 and the bungalow by more than 100% to $1.38 million.
Then there are those “just a few dollars more” regressive tax hikes the province likes so much. They add up:
• MSP premiums are up 31.6% (2010 to ’16) to $900 for an individual and $1,800 for a family (cumulative CPI 10.4%).
• For an an average BC Hydro ratepayer, the annual bill has risen by 32% (’10 to ’15) to $1,235 per year (cumulative CPI 9%).
• FortisBC customers learned this week that the utility company wants to hike the cost of natural gas by a whopping 80%.
One last stat from the survey: 27% of employees in B.C. said “they probably couldn’t come up with $2,000 if an emergency arose within the next month,” making them among “the most cash-strapped in the nation.”
The government may like touting the fact that B.C. is on track to have the highest provincial job growth rate in the land this year but it would do well to remember that the growth is in some of Canada’s lowest-paying jobs and in some of the country’s priciest communities.
Dermod Travis is executive director of IntegrityBC.
www.integritybc.ca
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