Men earn more than women in all provinces across Canada, according to a Conference Board of Canada social performance scorecard released April 5, but British Columbia has one of the highest gender wage gaps in the country.
The pay gap between men and women in B.C. is 22.6%. Two provinces had worse scores that were lower than that found in B.C.: Alberta (24.6%, D) and Newfoundland/Labrador (28.5%, D-). The lowest wage gap was in Prince Edward Island (10.7 %), followed by Manitoba (13.2%).
“Eliminating the wage gap between men and women is critical to achieving inclusive and cohesive societies and to sustaining economies,” the Board said in its report. “Women’s work should not be undervalued, nor should women’s skills be underutilized.
“Closing the gender wage gap will boost economic growth and have a positive impact on other key societal measures such as income inequality and poverty.”
The national gender wage gap was found to be 18.2%. This is almost a six percentage point improvement from the gap of 23.9% found in 2000.
“Equal pay for equal work needs to go from being a goal to becoming a reality.”
When compared with other nations, Canada comes in 13th out of 16 peer countries.
@EmmaHampelBIV
