Briefing note on pay equity
In August 2018, West Coast LEAF met with the Honourable Minister Harry Bains and the Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity Mitzi Dean to present a briefing note calling for proactive pay equity and pay transparency legislation to be implemented in the province.
British Columbia is the third worst province in Canada when it comes to the gendered earnings gap. Only women in Alberta and Newfoundland, of all the provinces, fare worse than women in BC. BC women earn 22.6% less than BC men. This is a significant barrier to economic security for women of all ages across the province, with both short-term and long-term negative consequences.
In order to address economic security in a meaningful way, there must be proactive pay equity legislation to enforce transparency, raise public awareness about the issues, and make employers responsible and accountable for the composition of their pay structures.