Gender equity successes in B.C.

Last updated on March 2, 2026

Since adopting Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) in 2018, the B.C. Government has made significant strides in advancing gender equity across economic, social, and health sectors.

Economic Participation and Prosperity

B.C. has introduced inclusive economic and social policies and programs to close the gender pay gap and increase women’s workforce participation. Almost 195,000 women joined the workforce from 2017 to 2025 in B.C., supported by initiatives like the StrongerBC Future Ready Action Plan.

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Minimum wage increases

  • B.C. introduced regular, gradual increases to the minimum wage.
  • The minimum wage reached $17.85/hour as of June 1, 2025.
  • B.C. ended the discriminatory liquor server minimum wage, which impacted mostly women as about 80% of liquor servers are women.
 

Early Childhood Educator (ECE) wage enhancement

  • B.C. incrementally increased the median wage for ECEs through the ECE Wage Enhancement.
  • Median wage for ECEs receiving the enhancement was $30/hour as of January 2026.
 

Child care expansion

  • B.C. has funded the creation of more than 42,200 new child care spaces since 2018 via ChildCareBC
  • 27,700+ spaces were operational as of December 2025.
 

Pay equity

  • B.C.’s Pay Transparency Act became law in May 2023 to reduce the gender pay gap.
  • Gender pay gap in B.C. dropped from 18% in 2022 to 15% in 2024 and 2025.
  • Nearly 80% of job postings in B.C. included pay details in mid-2025, compared to less than 40% in 2022 before the Pay Transparency Act was in place.
 

Workplace safety and inclusion

  • Flushable toilets and handwashing facilities are now required on large construction sites.
  • New guideline from WorkSafeBC aims to ensure personal protective equipment fits properly for workers of all genders.
 

Economic participation

  • Almost 195,000 women joined the B.C. workforce from 2017 to 2025.
  • Notable sectors for increases in women’s employment: 
    • Professional, scientific, and technical services up 39% from 97,100 to 134,900
    • Public administration up 36% from 56,800 to 77,400
    • Educational services up 32% from 114,800 to 151,700
    • Construction up 32% from 27,200 to 35,900
    • Real estate and rental and leasing up 27% from 26,000 to 32,900
    • Health care and social assistance up 26% from 252,000 to 317,400.
 

Support for working mothers

  • In 2024, 24,500 more women with children under 12 were employed in B.C. than in 2018.
  • From 2018 to 2024, the full-time employment rate rose from 69% to 76% for women with children under 12.
 

StrongerBC: Future Ready Action Plan

  • StrongerBC Future Ready Action Plan launched in 2023, aligning B.C.’s labour strategy with its ambitions for a clean and inclusive economy.
  • Applied a gender-based analysis plus lens, to ensure its 21 initiatives support women and gender diverse people.

 

Training and Education

The Province has expanded access to education and training for women and underrepresented groups through programs in trades, technology, and more. Investments in equity and education are helping more people enter stable, in-demand careers.

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Indigenous Skills Training and Education (ISTE) in B.C.

  • More than 1,900 Indigenous women participated in ISTE funded projects leading to employment and/or further education, from 2023 to 2025.
 

Canadian Tech Talent Accelerator (CTTA)

  • B.C. has invested in the CTTA program that helps unemployed young people and people from under-represented communities looking to start a career in the tech industry. Nearly 50% of 829 participants from early 2024 to early 2025 were women.
 

Trades

  • Women made up nearly 11% of apprentices in B.C. in early 2025, a 40% increase since 2017/18.
  • A province-wide Show Up for Safer Workplaces project by BC Centre for Women in the Trades launched in Fall 2025.
  • Government invests in trades education through SkilledTradesBC.
 

Community Workforce Response Grant

  • Community Workforce Response Grant for organizations and communities to help unemployed or precariously employed people receive training. Covers 100% of training costs and can include wraparound supports.
  • 59% of 2023/24 trained participants were women.
 

Transportation sector initiatives

  • Support to the YWCA for a project to provide women with skills training in the truck driving industry.
  • Support to the BC Road Builders for a project to hire, train, and retain underrepresented groups, including women, in highway maintenance/road building.
 

Employment supports for survivors of gender-based violence

  • Grant to the YWCA to support immigrant women and non-binary survivors of violence with employment supports in a trauma-informed approach.
 

Technical skills training

  • Support to the Alberni Maker Space Society for training for underrepresented groups in 3D printing, computer numerical control cutting and more.

 

Health, Well-being, and Poverty Reduction

B.C. has improved access to reproductive and women’s health services, gender-affirming health care, and initiatives that address health equity.

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IVF coverage

  • As of July 2, 2025, B.C. funds one standard in-vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle including treatment and medications.
 

Health in menopause

  • BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre launched Complex Menopause Clinic in 2025.
  • Free hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in B.C. starting March 1, 2026.
 

HPV and contraception access

  • Self-screening program for HPV launched in 2024 in B.C.
  • B.C. became the first province to make prescription contraception free on April 1, 2023.
 

Menstrual equity

  • Free menstrual products in public school washrooms in B.C. since 2019.
  • In 2022, the Province provided funding to United Way BC to establish the Period Poverty Task Force and lead efforts to distribute free menstrual products across B.C.
 

Gender-affirming care

  • Through Trans Care BC, the province increased alignment with World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care Version 8.
 

Inclusive data and ID policies

  • Gender and Sex Data Standard created to improve how government collects and uses data to serve B.C.'s diverse population.
  • Gender designation changes on ID no longer require physician or psychologist confirmation.
  • As a step to dismantle systemic racism and discrimination faced by Indigenous, Black and people of colour, the Province brought into law the Anti-Racism Data Act in 2022.
  • B.C. introduced the Provincial Data Plan which will improve our data practices to provide equitable services and deliver better programs with measurable outcomes.
  • The Indigenous Identity Data Standard provides a consistent, distinctions-based way to collect, use and share Indigenous identity data. It reflects the unique rights, experiences and data needs of Indigenous Peoples.
  • The Racial Identity Data Standard supports a consistent and culturally safe approach to collecting racial identity data.
 

Legislative updates

  • Updated approximately 4,000 uses of outdated gendered and binary terms in B.C. statutes and regulations.

 

Addressing Gender-Based Violence (GBV)

In December 2023, B.C. launched a comprehensive action plan, Safe and Supported: B.C.’s Gender-Based Violence Action Plan, which includes numerous Indigenous and community-led initiatives, expands housing and legal supports for survivors, and strengthens protections against image-based abuse.  

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Supports for survivors

  • 70 new sexual assault programs, 22 of these specifically for Indigenous survivors.
  • Five new sexual assault centres.
  • Two new 24/7 gender-based violence crisis lines.
  • New provincial policing standards on police response and investigations of sexual assault emphasize victim-centred, trauma-informed, inclusive and culturally safe approaches.
 

Housing for survivors

  • B.C. is making investments for 3,000 spaces for women leaving violence and their children.
  • 1,763 units delivered or underway as of January 2026.
  • In March 2025, the Canada–B.C. Housing Benefit was enhanced to support survivors with rent assistance. The benefit enhancement is expected to support nearly 1,700 individuals or households.
 

Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Policy and Guideline

  • In late 2023, the Ministry of Health approved the Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Policy and Guideline, which sets expectations for access to adult and adolescent sexual assault forensic examination in emergency departments, including acceptable models of care.
 

Intimate Images Protection Act

  • Intimate Images Protection Act enacted in 2023 to help protect against sharing of intimate images without consent and improve access to justice for survivors.
  • 315 claims had been filed with B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal under the Act as of May 1, 2025.
  • The Intimate Images Protection Service had supported 381 case files as of April 24, 2025, helping people who have had their intimate images shared without consent.
  • In October 2025, the Province strengthened the Act to provide people who had their intimate images shared without their consent access to higher compensation and better privacy protections.
 

Systemic review

  • In 2024, Government appointed Dr. Kim Stanton to conduct a systemic review of the legal system’s treatment of intimate partner violence and sexual violence. Government provided a Fall 2025 update which includes the planned path for implementing the review’s findings.
 

Legal aid and family law

  • The Province is providing support to expand financial eligibility for family legal aid services, improve intake capacity and create a new trauma-informed family law clinic.
  • Announced in August 2025, the Province is intending to propose changes to the Family Law Act to give more support to families and people experiencing family violence and to offer more parenting arrangements that put children’s needs first.
 

Path Forward Community Fund

  • The Path Forward Community Fund is supporting Indigenous-led solutions to violence against women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ people.
 

Considering gender in resource project assessments

  • In 2018,  B.C. introduced a new Environmental Assessment Act to modernize the environmental assessment process. The legislation includes updates intended to reduce social impacts on women, particularly in remote Indigenous communities.
  • B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office introduced a gender and cultural safety condition to mitigate the risk and incidence of gender-based violence in communities surrounding industrial work camps.
 

Prevention in schools

  • As part of Safe and Supported: B.C.’s Gender-Based Violence Action Plan, we are updating consent-based prevention and awareness programs for children, youth and young adults.

 

Leadership and Democratic Participation

Women now exceed parity in Cabinet, and as of March 2024 exceeded parity in public sector board appointments in B.C. These gains reflect B.C.’s commitment to inclusive leadership and equitable representation in decision-making roles.

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Cabinet and public sector boards

  • Women exceed parity in B.C.’s Cabinet.
  • As of March 2024, about 55% of B.C. public sector board appointees were women, up from almost 42% in 2017.