Pay Equity

April 10, 2025 marked this year’s Equal Pay Day in Ontario.

Equal Pay Day is a day to shine a spotlight on the ongoing economic inequality faced by women in the labour market.

The day illustrates the persistent gender wage gap in the province – measuring how many additional days the average woman must work in order to earn what her male counterpart did at the end of the previous year.

When making its calculation, the Equal Pay Coalition takes into account the average annual earnings of all workers, including those working full-time, part-time, and hourly. So, for the average female worker in Ontario, bridging the gender wage gap took an additional 99 days of working into the next calendar year.

In other words, to make what the average man did by December 31, 2024, the average woman had to work until April 10, 2025.

Engaging in pay equity, which is also known as ‘equal pay for work of equal value,’ is like comparing apples to oranges. Both are fruits but they have varying levels of vitamin C, crispness and weight.

Under pay equity legislation, female-dominated jobs are compared to male-dominated jobs of similar value. These jobs may be different but, if they have comparable value, their wages should be the same. But that is far from the case: the average woman in Ontario earns just $0.68 for every dollar a man makes.

Plus, pay discrimination impacts women across Ontario in different ways. If other intersectional factors are considered, for instance, race and those living with a disability, the pay gap is much wider.

Your Union is actively working, in every round of bargaining, to ensure that our collective agreements reflect pay equity language where necessary, and holding employers accountable when they refuse to meet their obligations under the law.

If you have questions about pay equity in your workplace, speak to your Union Representative.

Statistical source and for more information visit equalpaycoalition.org.

The average woman in Ontario earns just 68 cents for every dollar a man makes. Some women have it much worse.

• Arab women $0.53

• Women with disabilities $0.57

• Black and Indigenous Women $0.58

• Racialized women $0.62

• Men $1