B.C. women made 83 cents for every $1 earned by men in 2023: report
B.C. continued to have one of the most significant gender pay gaps in Canada last year, with women earning 83 cents for every dollar men earned, according to a recent report from the province.
B.C. released its first pay transparency report this month, just over a year after the Pay Transparency Act passed in the province.
The report revealed women in B.C. earned 17 per cent less than men in 2023, with that pay gap disproportionately impacting women who are Indigenous, racialized, a newcomer, disabled or LGBTQ2S+. In fact, racialized women earned a median of 76 cents for every dollar men earned in B.C. last year.
B.C.'s Pay Transparency Report released June 2024.
While the pay gap did decrease in 2023, it was only by one cent compared to 2022, when women earned 82 cents for every dollar men earned.
The report also revealed the median hourly wage for full-time work was $35 for men and just $29.74 for women in 2023. That amounts to an annual difference of nearly $11,000.
"Our communities are stronger when everyone is treated fairly, and it will take collective action to create meaningful change," a joint statement from Minister of Finance Katrine Conroy and Kelli Paddon, parliamentary secretary for gender equity, said. "We are committed to working with employees and employers to ensure that everyone in B.C. receives equal pay for equal work, regardless of their gender, other identity factors or the sector they work in."
- READ MORE: Pay transparency laws across Canada
B.C. has one of the largest gender pay gaps in the country. Last year, B.C.'s gender pay gap was only lower than Newfoundland and Labrador's 19 per cent, and Alberta's gap of 24 per cent.
In PEI, the gap was non-existent in 2022 and, in 2023, women actually made $1.04 for every dollar men earned.
B.C.'s Pay Transparency Report released June 2024.
Pay gap varies by sector
The inaugural report broke down gender pay gaps by sector, explaining women were paid less than men in most. This was the case even in sectors that employed more women than men. The biggest gender pay gaps were in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting, where women earned just 55 cents for every dollar men made.
"An overrepresentation of women in crop production – the sector's lowest paid subsector – may be why the gender pay gap remained as large as it had been since 2017," the report said. "In addition, men's wages in crop production increased most years following 2020, while women’s wages did not."
Only in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector did women earn more than men, the report showed.
B.C.'s Pay Transparency Report released June 2024.
Pay transparency legislated
B.C.'s Pay Transparency Act was passed on May 11, 2023, and requires employers to include expected pay or pay range in public job postings.
The act also prohibits employers from asking applicants what salary they've been paid in the past and requires employers to post pay transparency reports through a phased process. For example, Crown corporations and the B.C. government were required to post a pay transparency report by Nov. 1, 2023. This year, employers with 1,000 employees or more will be required to post their own report by Nov. 1 and, by Nov. 1, 2026, all employers with more than 50 employees will need to share a report.
The province released a "pay transparency reporting tool this month to help employers prepare their transparency reports. The province says reports must show the gaps in pay between gender categories, and provide mean and median statistics for hourly pay, bonus pay, overtime pay and overtime hours.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. election results: NDP gains ground in latest release of mail-in ballot data
Elections BC released its first partial results of the final count in B.C.'s 2024 provincial election Saturday afternoon, and the data shows NDP candidates gaining in some tight races.
Ontario man tells police he harmed two family members, three found dead
Huntsville OPP and the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) are conducting a homicide investigation after three individuals were found dead in a Huntsville neighbourhood Friday evening.
Trump refers to CNN's Anderson Cooper by a woman's first name
Former U.S. president Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper with a woman's first name in recent days as the Republican presidential nominee focuses his closing message on a hypermasculine appeal to men.
Lawsuit alleges Ontario man died after given 10 times prescribed dose in hospital
Angela Salvatore had been away from her father's hospital bedside for just over an hour when she says she got a frantic call from a nurse, pleading with her to calm him down.
15-year-old found dead in eastern Ontario, teen facing second-degree murder charge: OPP
Ontario Provincial Police say a 16-year-old has been charged with second-degree murder after a 15-year-old was found dead at a home in Perth, Ont. Friday afternoon.
Lizzo's Halloween costume draws inspiration from 'South Park' episode that referenced her and the weight-loss drug Ozempic
Lizzo has taken a rather silly reference to her on a recent 'South Park' episode and elevated it to a hilarious Halloween costume.
What we know about the Canadians busted in an international drug ring led by a former Olympic athlete
Canadian Ryan James Wedding finished in 24th place in the parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, but the snowboarder wouldn’t go on to improve his results in Torino four years later.
Ottawa journalist says claims that he is a Russian agent are 'fabricated'
A veteran Ottawa journalist is firing back against what he says are "entirely false" claims by a former Conservative cabinet minister that he acted as a Russian agent.
Israel's first open attack on Iran targets missile sites and apparently spares oil and nuclear ones
Israel attacked military targets in Iran with pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired on Israel earlier this month. It was the first time Israel's military has openly attacked Iran.