Pay transparency in B.C.

Last year, women in British Columbia earned, on average, 15 percent less than men. This pay gap is even more pronounced for women and gender-diverse individuals who are Indigenous, racialized, newcomers, disabled, and/or 2SLGBTQIA+.

The Pay Transparency Act became law on May 11, 2023, and B.C. employers must meet the following requirements to help address the gender pay gap:

• Job postings: Employers must include the expected pay or pay range in all public job postings. This promotes transparency and fairness in the job market. Learn more about this requirement.
• Pay history: Employers cannot ask job applicants about what they have been paid by other employers. This helps break the cycle of discrimination against women and gender-diverse people. Employers may still use pay history information they already have about an employee to determine pay for a new position.
• Employer reprisal: To foster open discussions about compensation, employers cannot dismiss, suspend, demote, discipline or harass an employee who:
  • Asks about their pay
  • Reveals their pay to another employee or job applicant
  • Asks about their employer’s pay transparency report
• Pay transparency reports: Employers above a certain size must post annual pay transparency reports by November 1 each year. This phased requirement promotes employer accountability by publicly showing the status of gender pay gaps within organizations. Learn how to prepare a pay transparency report.  

The Act requires the Minister of Finance to publish an annual report by June 1 each year that describes the differences in pay among genders, trends in relation to those differences and the number of reports of non-compliance with the Act, based on information from the previous calendar year.

Watch this short video to learn what the Pay Transparency Act is, why it matters, and what employers are required to do.