B.C. government says provincial gender pay gap seeing 'modest improvement'
Social Sharing
B.C.'s second annual pay transparency report shows a two per cent improvement in pay equality between women and men in the province, which a Canadian organization championing gender equality says is far from enough.
The report reveals a two-cent decrease in pay inequality, with women earning 85 cents for every dollar a man earned in 2024, up from 83 cents in 2023.
Sectors that saw the largest improvements in closing the gender pay gap, according to Statistics Canada data, were agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, where pay inequality has dropped from 45 percent to 36 per cent since 2023 — a nine per cent decrease.
Mining, quarrying and oil-and-gas extraction saw a seven per cent decrease in pay inequality from 24 per cent to 17 per cent, and young women with trade certificates or diplomas saw a 13 per cent drop in the gender pay gap from 18 per cent to 11 per cent in B.C. from 2017 to 2024.
WATCH | B.C. government introduces new pay transparency law:
The report says 85 per cent of job postings in B.C. in 2024 included information about pay, whereas other parts of the country came in at 52 per cent, according to the job-search platform Indeed.
According to the report, B.C. has the fourth-highest gender pay gap among Canadian provinces. When intersectional identities are considered, such as being Indigenous or a female newcomer to Canada, pay inequality is higher.
Humera Jabir, a staff lawyer with the West Coast branch of the Women's Legal and Education Action Fund (LEAF), says a two-cent improvement in closing the gender pay gap in this year's annual report is negligible.
"The Pay Transparency Act has no teeth and it has no ability to enforce the changes that we need to see to close the gender pay gap in B.C."
Jabir says to close the gap, B.C. needs a living wage for all people, policies that support and value caregivers, higher assistance for those on disability assistance, and fairness and protection for migrants.
"We need the B.C. government to recognize that this is a systematic issue of pay discrimination that is deeply built into our economy and reflects the social and economic devaluation of work that's done by women and people who experience marginalization."
Jabir says a lot of women and marginalized people work in spaces with fewer than 50 employees, so they will not be reflected in pay transparency data under the act in B.C.
The pay transparency act tool that the government is relying on is not capturing everyone, especially those most impacted by the gender pay gap, says Jabir.
"Unfortunately, what the reports are showing over and over again is that there is gender, systemic inequality in how people are paid. We've known that for decades, so what is the B.C. aovernment doing to do about it?"
Karsari Govender, B.C.'s human rights commissioner, says that while the numbers in the report show slight improvements, it is worth noting that the data is limited to a select group who work for larger employers with 1,000 or more employees.
Gender pay gap data will be expected from B.C. employers with 300 or more employees beginning this November, and employers with 50 or more employees will be expected to compile and post reports about their gender pay gap data starting in November 2026.
Govender says only 86 per cent of employers complied with the pay transparency legislation, so the numbers from the report don't paint an entirely accurate picture.
"Pay transparency legislation is an important step towards pay equity, but the problem is it can't be the only step. The biggest issue is that we don't have pay equity legislation."
Govender notes that while gender pay gap reporting is mandatory in B.C., there are no mechanisms to enforce it to hold employers accountable.
She says an enforcement mechanism, such as fines or other penalties for non-compliance, is needed for the legislation to work more effectively.
The intersectional data collected in the report is important, says Govender. Women overall made 85 cents on the dollar compared to men, while women with disabilities made 82 cents, and transgender women made 52 cents.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
33 minutes ago
- CTV News
Pickleball facility taking over former Cambridge Peavey Mart
A new indoor pickleball facility is set to take over the former Peavey Mart in Cambridge. Pickleplex Social Club is bringing a state-of-the-art indoor pickleball facility to the Galt location. The property's real estate agent said it is the perfect fit for the building at 75 Dundas St N. 'A lot of the natural tenants that would go into that location are already in that plaza, which made it a little more complicated. There were some other challenges with the building, so something like Pickleplex really was a good fit for the building,' said Fraser Vrenjak, senior vice president of Cushman & Wakefield Waterloo Region. Peavey Mart closed in January, due to ongoing financial struggles. Vrenjak said as many large retailers are struggling, recreational companies are trying to seize the opportunity. 'To this day, landlords aren't fully on board with all these recreational users just yet. There's still a little hesitation. they'd rather see a Sobeys grocery store or a sports check. They've been around for a while, and you know they're going to be there for the future, but they are definitely becoming more flexible with these uses,' Vrenjak said. 'We're using the space now for something that was, you know, maybe tough to fill in retail the way retail is going and utilizing for something like, active, healthy lifestyle,' said Owen Smith, co-founder of Pickleplex. Smith said Pickleplex will host lessons and tournaments while focusing on the quickly growing sport, but also pairs it with a social element. 'The way that we built every site and location is to have a social area for a common place for people to sit, lounge, sit on bar stools, watch their friends play,' said Smith. 'We want everyone to come and get to know each other, make new friends, keep that friendship both on the court and off the court. Pickleplex is set to open four additional locations in Ontario this year. The Cambridge location is expected to open its doors this fall. Pickleball has been growing in popularity in Cambridge. Four Fathers Brewing launched its Pickleball Society just over a year ago. 'Pickleball is such an accessible sport. People of all ages, and skill levels can pick up a paddle and have fun immediately,' Mike Hurdin, co-owner of Four Fathers Brewing said. 'To many, it's a social life. So people become friends, they stay active, and they feel more connected to the community by doing that.'
CTV News
35 minutes ago
- CTV News
‘Could not meet that need': Province rejects Saskatoon police chief's plan to train officers in-house
The province has denied a request from Saskatoon's police chief to internally train new officers amid a staffing crunch. The Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) is down 32 officers, according to Chief Cameron McBride. 'Our staffing isn't where I believe it needs to be,' McBride told the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners on Thursday. McBride attributes the shortage to a wave of recent retirements. The chief said the ability to get new officers on Saskatoon streets is 'slowed by the Saskatchewan Police College.' 'We had hoped for 17 seats in the fall class at the college, and we received eight,' McBride told journalists after the meeting. McBride praised the college's ability to train, but said its current capacity isn't meeting Saskatoon's demand. To fill the training gap, McBride wrote a letter to the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety with a potential solution. 'I asked, can we train in-house? One time?' McBride explained. 'We have the capacity, we have the subject matter experts, we have the facility, and I believe wholeheartedly that we could do that in fall.' His request was denied. In a statement to CTV News, the Saskatchewan Police Commission said it considered the SPS's request but decided it 'could not meet that need while maintaining the standards of a centralized training program.' 'I understand it. I respect it. But it certainly affects our ability to grow,' McBride said, noting the challenge of keeping police staffing proportionate to Saskatoon's population growth. The commission said it recognizes the pressure and is planning to expand training capacity by 50 per cent — up to 96 recruits — by 2026. McBride said the police college's strategy for next year is 'very good and encouraging, but that future plan doesn't address today's need.' 'I need to reiterate, we do have enough staff,' he said. 'We just don't have enough staff to give our members the cushion and the ability to do proactive policing.' The challenge in getting new police recruits job-ready comes as the City of Saskatoon pores over its budget plans for the next two years, looking to lower an anticipated property tax increase of nearly 10 per cent in 2026. Saskatoon police are expected to account for approximately four per cent of that property tax increase, following a new collective agreement with the local police association that included a 'higher than anticipated' salary increase for its members.
Globe and Mail
43 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Federal review of access to information law ‘doesn't have credibility,' expert says
The federal government has launched an internal review of its access to information law, but one expert says the examination lacks legitimacy and falls short of the desires of transparency advocates. In a brief announcement on Friday, the government said it would be seeking feedback from stakeholders 'later in 2025.' During a press conference last week, a group of public interest advocacy organizations and access experts had called for an independent review of Ottawa's ailing access system. The group, which included academics, lawyers, journalists and activists, had drafted their own terms of reference for the examination. Matt Malone, a law professor at the University of Ottawa who spearheaded the call for an independent review, said the government 'has no incentive to engage in meaningful reform' and that the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the department that oversees the administration of the federal access regime and is conducting the review, is in an 'inherent conflict of interest' since it is itself regulated by access law. 'It's the government completely retaining control,' Prof. Malone continued. 'You can already see from this moment exactly where this process is going. It's going to be a waste of government resources, and it's going to undermine public trust in the government, because they're going to engage in a process that doesn't have credibility from the get-go. Independent stakeholders have said clearly what credibility looks like in this context. The government has said through their actions: 'We're not going to listen to you.'' 'This is sad,' he said. Secret Canada: How transparent is your city? Audit of freedom of information requests finds vast differences By law, the Access to Information Act, which governs federal access requests, must be reviewed every five years. The last review was launched in 2020, lasted 2½ years – almost one year longer than its original deadline – and delivered no recommendations, drawing the ire of government transparency experts. At the time, Michael Wernick, who retired as the public service's top bureaucrat in 2019, called the government's final report 'tepid and incrementalist.' In an e-mailed statement, Treasury Board spokesperson Rola Salem said the government is responsible for evaluating federal access legislation, and that the department intends to 'undertake a more focused and expedited review.' During the 2025 federal election campaign, Liberal Leader Mark Carney pledged to review Ottawa's access regime. 'An objective review of that would serve Canadians well, regardless of the result of the election,' he said. Access laws – sometimes called freedom of information or right to information legislation – exist in countries around the world and throughout Canada at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal level. They enshrine into law the principle that people have a right to know how their public institutions are being run and how tax dollars are being spent. These laws do this by allowing the public to make official requests for documents, which must then be disclosed – with limited exceptions. In 2023, a Globe and Mail investigation called Secret Canada looked at the state of Canada's access systems, including at the federal level. The Globe's reporting found that public institutions are routinely breaking access laws by violating statutory time limits, overusing redactions and claiming no records exist when they do. And they face few, if any, consequences for ignoring the precedents set by courts and information commissioners, the government-appointed watchdogs responsible for monitoring the system and mediating disputes.
