The British Columbia government will soon mandate businesses to create and release public “gender pay gap reports.”
The government announced on Tuesday a growing list of businesses will be required to publicly report staff wages, emphasizing in the report the relationship between gender and wage.
“[This] brings us one step closer to reducing the gender pay gap,” said B.C. labour minister Harry Baines.
The mandate will expand once a year, on the first day of November. It’s scheduled to start with businesses that employ more than 1,000 staff.
The B.C. government said it will compile the reports each year, releasing a provincial update to show changes in the gender-pay-gap.
“The legislation will address systemic discrimination in the workplace that holds women back from achieving their true potential,” said Queenie Choo, CEO of a Vancouver non-profit social service group called the United Chineses Community Enrichment Services Society.
The government announcement noted that British Columbia men had higher average hourly wages ($35.50) than women ($29.53).
The program is scheduled to end in 2026, lastly including businesses that employ 50 staff.
Advocates have said the legislation is not enough to close equity gaps in B.C., and are pushing the government to enshrine pay-equity in law.
Others say the gender pay gap is a false idea to begin with.
Canadian public figure Jordan Peterson wrote on social media the idea is a politically-motivated lie.
Twitter users HappyCamper and Lana Durand wrote to BC Premier John Horgan, claiming the gender pay gap is not significant when closely inspected.
