Would you like to share your ideas or class project for this page? Contact us!

Other Local Special Projects

• Keeping Employed: The Role of Affordable Transportation
• What is a "Living Wage" and Why Does it Matter?
• Calculating Poverty and the Cost of Living
• The Cycle of Child Poverty
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse
• Access to Safe Water: Is it Equitable for Everyone?
• Healthy Eating
• Youth in Action!

Vibrant Communities Calgary

Vibrant Communities Calgary is an organization that brings together individuals concerned about poverty and its effects. Their goal is to help to develop strategies to address the root causes of poverty in our community. One of their projects is concerned with addressing a "living wage" in the Calgary community.

» Find out more about the Cost of Living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with this fact sheet!

Your Challenge!

Special Projects

Calculating Poverty/Cost of Living

Poverty in America: Use this Poverty Calculator to explore what poverty looks like in the United States of America. What are the similarities to Canada's Cost of Living?

Many people talk about Canada as having a strong economy. As an example, Alberta is often referred to as beeing "a booming province!"  We hear it on the news and we can see it on the streets with the amount of new buildings going up everyday. 

What does a booming economy mean?  A booming economy usually means income rises, there is a drop in unemployment rates and that inflation (the rise in general price levels related to an increase in the volume of money) also rises. 

While lots of people benefit from economic booms, there are many people who don’t.  Making a living in Calgary is one thing, making ends meet can mean a whole different thing! Let’s look at some facts!   

Income in Alberta

• Social Assistance
• Sometimes for various reasons, people in Alberta cannot work due to illness or injury.  Sometimes people are looking for work but cannot find an appropriate job.
• Alberta Social Assistance is available to help people who cannot work due to illness, injury, etc. 
• For people who are looking for work, the Alberta government helps as well. 
  
  
• Alberta's Minimum Wage: $7.00/hour
• For someone working a minimum wage job for 40 hours a week, every week of the year, they will only have an annual salary of $14,560.00

Alberta's Cost of Living

• The average price of rent in Calgary is anywhere between $700 and $1100 per month. 
• City Transit in Calgary costs $2.25 per ride, $75.00 for a monthly bus pass, and $35.00 for a Low-Income bus pass.    
• How much does it cost an individual to take public transit to work everyday for a year? 
• With a monthly pass, it will cost an adult $900/year to take the bus to school or work.  On a low-income bus pass, it will cost an adult $420/year to ride the bus/CTrain.

Eating in Alberta

• Food for an individual in one month can range anywhere between $150 - $300 depending on how much the person eats, etc.