The BC government has announced it will begin consultations this spring on pay transparency legislation to address wage disparity between men and women.
According to a 2018 study by Statistics Canada, BC has the largest gender pay gap in Canada. It currently remains as one of four provinces (along with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland) that does not have pay transparency or pay equity laws. While pay transparency laws require employers to disclose compensation gaps between different demographics of workers, pay equity laws require organizations to take action in closing those gaps.
Last year, the Government of Canada passed the Pay Equity Act, which will require all federally regulated employers with 10 or more employees to implement pay equity plans and those with 100 or more employees to file annual employment equity reports. These reports will be used to generate aggregated wage gap data on women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities.
Consultations to begin this spring in BC will include Indigenous organizations, public- and private-sector employer groups, business and union organizations, equity-seeking organizations and groups that work to create equal opportunity for women, as well as employers who have already established pay transparency policies.
A timeline has yet to be announced for when legislation will be introduced.
See the Government of BC's official news release here.
