Higher benchmark for Whitehorse households
Two adults raising two children in Whitehorse each need to earn $29.60 an hour to cover basic household expenses, according to the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition’s 2026 Living Wage Report. The figure is 13.3 per cent higher than the 2025 benchmark, the coalition says, reflecting the pressure facing households trying to maintain a modest standard of living in the Yukon capital.
The report also sets different benchmarks for other household arrangements. A single person would need to earn $32.43 an hour, while the figure for a single-parent household is $37.80 an hour. Those amounts are intended to show the hourly income required to pay for essential costs, rather than to prescribe a wage that employers are legally required to provide.
| Household type | 2026 living-wage benchmark |
|---|---|
| Two adults and two children | $29.60 per hour for each adult |
| Single person | $32.43 per hour |
| Single-parent household | $37.80 per hour |
A measure of basic costs
The coalition describes the living wage as a calculated benchmark for the earnings needed to meet expenses including shelter, food, transportation and child care. It is based on a nationally standardized method that is applied to local costs, while also taking taxes and government transfers into account. The calculation is therefore designed to show how the cost of living interacts with both household income and public supports.
Kristina Craig, the coalition’s executive director, said the latest figures point to a widening gap between what households earn and what they must spend to cover necessities.
“The cost of living in Whitehorse is rising faster than incomes, and it’s hitting low- and modest-income households the hardest,”
The benchmark is not the same as Yukon’s minimum wage, and the report does not present it as a statutory requirement. Instead, it offers a reference point for assessing whether employment income, benefits and public services are sufficient to cover the costs faced by particular household types. The differing figures in the report also show how the same community can impose different financial demands depending on whether a person is living alone, raising children with a partner or parenting alone.
Public supports part of the calculation
The coalition says the report highlights the role that government benefits and public services play in household affordability. It identifies affordable child care, housing, health care and public transportation as investments that can reduce the amount of income households need to meet basic costs. In the coalition’s view, those supports are an important part of understanding the final amount families must earn, rather than treating wages as the only factor affecting household security.
Report author Kendall Hammond said the supports do not benefit every household in the same way. Single households, in particular, receive fewer targeted benefits, according to Hammond, leaving them with a higher living-wage benchmark in the report.
“This report shows clearly where those supports are working—and where they’re falling short, especially for single households, who receive fewer targeted benefits,”
The 2026 publication is the coalition’s 11th annual living-wage report. The Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition says the full yearly reports are available through its website, allowing residents and organizations to review the calculations and compare the benchmark with the costs and supports identified for Whitehorse households.
