Pay Equity

On this page

• Why we are developing pay equity plans
• Implementing pay equity
• Roles and responsibilities
• Key milestones
• Related links

The Pay Equity Act was passed by Parliament and received royal assent on December 13, 2018. The act came into force on August 31, 2021.

The purpose of the act is to achieve pay equity for employees in jobs that are commonly held by women by addressing gender-based discrimination in the pay practices and systems of employers.

The Government of Canada is committed to creating an inclusive public service where women receive equal pay for work of equal value.

Why we are developing pay equity plans

Historically, work predominantly done by women has been under-compensated in Canada.

The purpose of a pay equity plan is to identify gaps between the compensation of jobs held mostly by women and those held mostly by men that involve work of equal value.

Developing pay equity plans will close pay gaps by increasing compensation for employees who occupy positions in predominantly female job classes.

The act affects approximately 4,600 employers and 1.3 million employees across Canada.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), on behalf of the Treasury Board as the employer, in conjunction with bargaining agents and/or non-unionized representatives, is developing 3 pay equity plans:

1. a plan that encompasses employees in the core public administration (CPA)
2. a plan that covers members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
3. a plan that covers members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)

Separate agencies and federal sector employers must develop their own pay equity plans.

Figure 1 - Text version

Core Public Administration

Over 270,000 employees

About 70 different departments, agencies and other entities

Pay Equity Committee: Representatives from 17 bargaining agents, non-unionized employees and the employer

About 630 job classes

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Over 21,000 employees

Regular and civilian members

Pay Equity Committee: Representatives from 5 bargaining agents, non-unionized employees and the employer

About 140 job classes

Note: Among the 270,000 public servants, about 9,000 are working for the RCMP but are covered under the core public administration pay equity committee

Implementing pay equity

The Pay Equity Act defines a process to develop pay equity plans that all employers must follow. Plans must be developed within 3 years of the coming into force of the act on August 31, 2021. However, employers can apply to the Pay Equity Commissioner for an extension if they believe they need more time.

Given the complexity of the work, the Pay Equity Commissioner has granted TBS the following requested extensions to post final pay equity plans:

• 18 months for regular and civilian members of the RCMP (by February 28, 2026)
• 2 years for members of the CAF (by August 31, 2026)
• 3 years for employees of the CPA (by August 31, 2027)

Employees who may be entitled to an increase in compensation under the final pay equity plans will receive a retroactive lump-sum payment that includes interest as  of September 4, 2024.

The work to develop pay equity plans is unprecedented in the federal jurisdiction given the diversity and complexity of the workforce. The scope of work across the core public administration is particularly immense, representing the diversity of the needs of the country it serves.

The process to develop a pay equity plan includes a series of steps that must be agreed on at a pay equity committee with representatives from the employer, the bargaining agents and non-unionized employees. These steps include:

• step 1: identifying the job classes of positions in the workplace
• step 2: determining whether the job classes are predominantly female or male
• step 3: determining the value of the work performed in each predominantly female and male job class
• step 4: calculating the compensation of each predominantly female job class and predominantly male job class
• step 5: comparing the compensation of each predominantly female job class with predominantly male job classes to ensure that female-predominant job classes receive equal pay for work of equal or comparable value

Given the diverse and complex roles of female and male predominant jobs in the core public administration that must be assessed, the pay equity committees will need to work collaboratively in the spirit of the act to uphold the right to equal pay for work of equal value.

With a population of over 270,000 federal public servants, TBS is the largest employer subject to the act, as well as the largest employer in the country. Given the size and scope of the CPA, this brings a high level of complexity to this important exercise.

Roles and responsibilities

Key milestones

TBS, along with the 17 bargaining agents that represent employees within the CPA and representatives of non-unionized employees, continues to move forward steadily on the important work of establishing a pay equity plan for the CPA. The RCMP, with their 5 bargaining agents, representatives of non-unionized employees and TBS, also continues to work toward a pay equity plan for members of the RCMP. In addition to preliminary work on the development of the CAF plan currently underway, TBS is supporting the identification of committee members for the CAF pay equity committee.

Related links

• Pay Equity Act
• Compensation of women and men in the federal public service
• Evolution of pay equity
• Canadian Human Rights Commission – Pay Equity
• Notice to all members of the Canadian Armed Forces regarding the request to the Office of the Pay Equity Commissioner to extend the deadline to post a final pay equity plan (October 25, 2024)
• Statement from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat to all employees of the core public administration regarding pay equity and to all members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (August 20, 2024)
• Notice to all employees of the Core Public Administration regarding the request to the Office of the Pay Equity Commissioner to extend the deadline to post a final pay equity plan (August 19, 2024)
• Notice to all civilian and regular members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police regarding the request to the Office of the Pay Equity Commissioner to extend the deadline to post a final pay equity plan (July 26, 2024)
• An update from the Core Public Administration pay equity committee (March 25, 2024)
• An Update from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pay Equity Committee (May 16, 2024)
• Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat memo to all employees of the core public administration regarding pay equity
• Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat memo to all civilian and regular members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police regarding pay equity