BC’s gender pay gap is shrinking, but still one of the largest in Canada

Graphic: Province of BC

BC made history last fall as the first province to achieve gender equity in parliament. But the province is still lagging when it comes to gender equality—particularly how much less women are paid overall than men.  Last year, BC  had the fourth-largest gap in pay between men and women.

Last week, the province released its second report on wages since passing the Pay Transparency Act in 2023. In 2024, the gender pay gap was 15%, down from 16% in 2023. This means women made 85 cents on average to every dollar a man makes. This is considerably higher than the national average of 12% in 2024, or 88 cents on the dollar.

For women who are visible minorities or who have disabilities, the gap is even larger. Transgender women in BC experienced the most significant gap, earning only 52 cents to every dollar a cisgender man made.

The gender pay gap is not a comparison of payment for the same jobs, but instead looks at the average gross hourly earnings for all women and men.

BC’s gap is smaller than Alberta’s, which topped the list of provincial pay gaps at 22% last year. Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador had gaps of 18% and 17%, respectively.

BC’s gender pay gap improved the most in three sectors last year:

• Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (the gap was 36%, down from 45% in 2023)
• Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (17%, down from 24%)
• Wholesale trade (11%, down from 18%)

The study also found women to be twice as likely than men to work part time. When working full time, women earned an average of $31.25 per hour while men earned $36.

Why there’s still a pay gap between women and men

The gender pay gap is used as an indicator of gender bias and discrimination, which can be difficult to measure. Multiple biases can affect women’s ability to make more money.

Women in Canada are more likely to:

• Do the bulk of housework, childcare, and elder care
• Work part-time to accommodate childcare and housework
• Take career breaks for childcare than men
• Work in lower-paying sectors despite more women finishing post secondary programs than men
• Earn less after becoming mothers, while men typically earn more after becoming fathers (this is known as the motherhood penalty vs fatherhood bonus)
• Not be promoted to C-suite positions (in 2022, there were more CEOs in Canada named Michael or Mark than women). For the last five years, only 5% of corporations listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange had women CEOs