Calculations: A single parent with one 10 yo child in Newfoundland who works 35 hours a week, 51 weeks a year will bring home, after taxes, CPP and EI, 403/week or $1746/month
Note: this is an ideal of consistent full time hours every week and no other payroll deductions. /1

If they have full time custody, their CCTB and CWB and GST credits will equal $8265.03/year or approx (because of GST schedule) 688.75/month.
Averaging out their income monthly and adding those credits leaves them with $2435.08/month /2

So, estimated reasonable expenses:
Rent: $900/month
Used Car+ Insurance: $350/month
Groceries (1 adult, 1 child): $320/month
Electric: $250/month
Afterschool care: $400/month
Internet + cell phone: $150/month
*Note, this are frugal estimates based on my experience. /3

That puts us at $2370 for just the basics. This family has no health insurance, is using cheap afterschool care, buying groceries and consuming electricity frugally. They don't buy clothes or eat out, ever & have almost all their income spent. There's $64.75 left each month.

They can't ever get sick, the car can never need repairs, the child will magically always have free hand-me-downs and the mother will replace old clothes with free clothing as well. The child has no field trips or extra school expenses. There are no birthday parties.

They have no money for car trips - gas and tire wear are expensive. But she needs her car to get to work because our public transit is expensive and insufficient for a single mother especially (she doesn't have the luxury of waiting 40 minutes for a bus and paying childcare)

The difference were we to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour? Her monthly income, after taxes, CPP and EI (all rates remaining equal) is now $2120.51. Her monthly benefits are now (all rates remaining equal) $637.33. Her monthly income is now $2767.84

Now she can breath. That's it. Just..breath a little. Her kid can wear shoes that fit and don't leak. When he loses his mitts they can buy a new pair at the dollar store. Maybe he gets $5 for the scholastic flyer and they eat out at McDonalds once a month.

There's no savings. If the car goes into the garage she's ruined. If he's invited to more than one birthday party a month he has to pick one. Still, no one can get sick. She can't afford the missed time from work.

But she can breath a little.

By denying a minimum wage increase our province is saying it's okay with people suffocating, with children having wet feet, with moms foregoing their own medicine to buy their child's.

PS: I used the Canadian Government's Payroll Deductions Online Calculator, fillable TD1 forms and Child and Family Benefits calculator to estimate income and experience + stats can average household exenditures for NL to come up with these numbers.

One final thought:
Yes, absolutely petition government to increase the minimum wage; their reluctance to do so shows they pander more to companies than care about people. BUT a company can choose to pay more than miniumum. Ask your favourite businesses what they pay.

Someone raised the idea that she should be receiving child support from the other parent. Yes she should. She likely isn't (pls excuse gender assumptions). Let's see he also makes minimum wage, works full time. He would be paying her $158.59 a month.

If they share custody...guess what, they each get 50% of their entitled CCB amount but still have to pay for regular rates of rent and car. The only potential expense decrease is groceries.