People in southwestern Ontario need to earn at least $21.50 per hour in order to cover the cost of living, according to newly-released data from the Ontario Living Wage Network.

That’s $3.90 higher than the minimum wage in Ontario, which rose to $17.60 on Oct. 1.

It’s also an increase of 8.3 per cent over the 2024 living wage in the region of $19.85, the largest increase in the province.

“So if working a minimum wage job full-time, at the end of the week in Windsor and Essex County, you're going to be short by … $136 at the end of that week,” said living wage network spokesperson Craig Pickthorne.

The Ontario Living Wage Network describes itself on its website as a network of employees, employers, non-profits, researchers and proponents of decent working standards.

Each year, it ca

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