Pay gap reporting in federally regulated private-sector workplaces

Pay gap reporting measures seek to raise awareness of pay gaps experienced by:

• women
• Indigenous peoples^{Footnote 1}
• persons with disabilities
• members of visible minorities

Currently under development, a new online tool will provide Canadians with user-friendly, online information on employer pay gaps. It will present aggregated pay gaps in the form of hourly rate gaps, supported by:

• bonus pay gaps
• overtime pay gaps
• representation rates

To introduce pay gap reporting measures, amendments were made to the Employment Equity Act and the Employment Equity Regulations. The amendments came into force on January 1, 2021, and apply to federally regulated private-sector employers with 100 or more employees.

As a result, employers under the Legislated Employment Equity Program are now required to:

• record new salary data, and
• include aggregated pay gap information in their annual reporting on employment equity the following year (June 1, 2022)

The Labour Program provides advice and guidance to employers in completing their annual employment equity submissions, and collects the information under the Employment Equity Act.