Victoria, British Columbia, is a beautiful city, and attracts millions of tourists each year with its reputation as the “Garden City.” With whimsical, old-fashioned buildings, horse-drawn carriages, elegant restaurants and unique boutiques on every street, it isn’t hard to see why so many people choose to vacation here. However, amidst all of the beauty here, both natural and manmade, Victoria has a hidden ugliness to it: systemic, wide-reaching poverty.
Currently, Victoria ranks as “[…]the least affordable smaller housing market in Canada.” Our close neighbor, the also beautiful city of Vancouver, is ranked as “the third least affordable housing market on the planet.” In regards to simply renting houses, versus buying, Victoria also poses a variety of challenges to those seeking housing. The average cost of a simple bachelor apartment in Victoria as of 2016 was $785, with a vacancy rate of a startlingly low 0.4%. Looking at the whole of B.C,an average bachelor’s apartment will cost you $925 a month; comparatively, a bachelor apartment in Alberta costs, on average, $838 a month. (Feeling discouraged and want to go east? Check out Quebec, where renting a bachelor’s apartment will cost you, on average, just $563 a month!) Even more striking than the sheer cost of housing here, however, is the utter lack of it: the vacancy rate in BC hovers at 1.3%, the lowest in Canada. To compare, our next-door neighbor, Alberta, has a vacancy rate of 8.1%. What does this mean for the people most likely to be living in a bachelor pad, ie. lower income people like students, or seniors on a fixed income? This means that paying the rent (again, for a single room. That’s what these numbers refer to!) is likely going to be a big issue… if, of course, you manage to be one of those lucky people able to even find housing! Students, guess what: even the cheapest, simplest type of apartment is likely going to be out of your reach!
The average minimum wage in Canada is $11.39/hour. British Columbia, with Canada’s most expensive housing market, sits strongly in the middle of this, with a minimum wage of $10.85/hour. In regards to other costs, such as food, British Columbia again exists as one of the most expensive provinces in the country. The average household in BC spends $9168/year on food, the second-highest rate in the country. Also worth noting, the cost of food is only getting more expensive here, as BC was one of two provinces (the other was Ontario) where food costs were predicted to rise. If minimum wage were to serve as a living wage for the average household in BC, it would need to rise dramatically. Here in Victoria, it would need to be $20.01/hour for the average household.
“But this is for a family, not a student,” you ask. Well, here’s the thing: Not all, or even most, minimum-wage earners are teenagers just subsidizing their income. Most minimum-wage earners rely on that income for survival, not just for fun little extras or for when your parents don’t want to pay for your phone bill. In fact, “82% of minimum wage workers are over 19 years old while more than 15,000 are over the age of 65. But what if you are, in fact, just a student, and only supporting yourself? Well, the cost of food and shelter will go down, as will the cost of childcare, but so will your ability to work full-time, since the majority of your time will be spent in school. Also, be sure to add an extra $6,250 to your expenses each year, as well as the cost of textbooks! Oh, and while you are paying those fees and telling yourself that at least you’ll be able to escape poverty and get a good job once you have your degree, keep this in mind: Minimum wage workers in BC are also highly educated, with 53% holding a post-secondary degree.
So, with such a wide-scale and ongoing issue, what are our politicians doing? Our new premier, John Horgan, has scrapped previous plans to ensure that minimum wage would rise to $15/hour by 2021, and while the living wage needed by an average person in Victoria is $20.01/hour, the next increase will only raise minimum wage to $11.35 an hour. Victoria, which had been particularly hard-hit by the housing crisis, has had a limited degree of support from local politicians in regards to finding solutions. In regards to the rising issue of homelessness in the capital, the city responded by creating short-term, slapstick housing projects, and has done nothing to address underlying mental health and addictions issues that can lead to homelessness in the first place. Another idea to fight the housing crisis, courtesy of Victoria’s mayor, Lisa Helps, has been the proposal of “billeting” initiatives, in lieu of solutions such as, say, supporting affordable housing initiatives, or decreasing support for developers interested in only pursuing high-end, luxury condo projects. Despite the apparent lack of funding for any affordable housing initiatives, our city has decided to invest roughly 7 million dollars in bike lanes, so at least you can get some exercise to clear your mind as you decide between paying rent and buying food. The city of Vancouver has at least implemented a foreign-buyers tax, in a bid to help control the housing market and ensure that investment housing does not take priority over liveable homes. Victoria’s City Council, after hearing presentations from various wealthy real estate developers and real estate speculators, voted against a foreign buyer’s tax. Councillor Geoff Young stated that the tax, aimed at targeting wealthy foreign real-estate speculators who do not live in the homes they purchase, invoked memories of the Chinese head tax and was potentially racist. While Councillor Young cares deeply about fighting racism, as long as the people he’s fighting for are wealthy, it’s worth noting that he has remained silent on various other issues of race in Victoria. When numbers were released showing that 32.6% of Victoria’s homeless are indigenous, despite accounting for roughly 5% of the general population, Councillor Young had nothing to say. Our city, as beautiful as it is, simply does not care for the wellbeing of its working class and lower-income citizens.
As disparaging as the current economic situation may seem, the reality is that lower-income people don’t need to plan their move to Quebec, at least not yet. As long as people continue to raise their voices on the issue of economic inequality, and on the various ways that economic inequality serves to further impact and subjugate already-marginalized communities, those with the power to enact change will listen. In Victoria, we are lucky to have organizations that work to fight the issue of economic inequality, and to support the voices of marginalized communities, organizations such as: The Together Against Poverty Society, Retail Action Network, Beacon Community Services, Greater Victoria Housing Society, Pacifica Housing, the UVSS Food Bank and Free Store, the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, and many more. All of these organizations provide key services to our community, particularly in relation to economic inequality, and volunteering with them, donating to them, or otherwise supporting them is a fantastic way to enact change. The reality is, our politicians aren’t helping us, so we need to help each other. And, on the topic of politicians, don’t be scared to reach out to them and tell them how you feel! Share this article, and tag any politicians you feel need to be aware of how dire the current situation has come. Better yet, contact politicians directly, and have your voice heard!
Victoria and British Columbia as a whole have failed their working-class citizens, and continuously put the interests of the wealthy above the wellbeing of our communities. As our housing crisis becomes more and more serious, as our cost of living continues to rise, and as the voices of marginalized communities continue to go unheard, we bear the responsibility of fighting for our rights and ensuring that all citizens, not just the 1%, are being represented. Our city must continue to be a home for all of her people, not just rich people.