Canadian firms have work to do to reduce gender pay gap: report
Some of Canada’s largest banks, engineering firms, retailers and other companies pay their female British employees substantially less than their male counterparts and give out lower bonuses, according to gender pay disclosures filed in the United Kingdom.
The Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and Toronto-dominion said the mean hourly rate for their U.k.-based female workers is between 35 and 44 per cent lower than the men’s rate. On average, women’s bonuses were between 64 and 72 per cent lower than their male counterparts.
Speaking at Royal Bank’s annual general meeting Friday, days after the submission deadline in the U.K., chief executive Dave Mckay told reporters the discrepancy is largely due to the challenge of getting more women in senior roles and positions in capital markets, wealth management and brokers, where compensation is greatest.
“We have to do more, and we have to change those roles,
to make them more attractive, to bring the diversity, because I think we will perform better over time.”
According the Equality Act, all U.K. employers with 250 or more employees must submit facts about the salary and bonuses they paid to employees, including the proportions of men and women who receive bonuses and the proportions of each sex in each quartile pay band.
Bluebay Asset Management, a London-based money manager owned by Royal Bank, had a 19 per cent hourly pay gap and 56 per cent difference for
bonuses.
F&C Asset Management, which is owned by the Bank of Montreal, reported a wage gap of 34 per cent and an 82 per cent gap in bonuses paid.
Scotiabank said its 44 per cent wage gap and 72 per cent difference in bonuses primarily results from an uneven distribution of women across the business and some departments and roles with few or no women.
The best performers among Canadian companies were Cott Beverages Ltd. and Bombardier Transportation.
Bombardier’s rail division had a 2.8 per cent gap on hourly wages, but paid 14 per cent higher bonuses to women.
Managing director Richard Hunter noted the company’s gap was narrower than the national average.
“We are committed to make working at Bombardier inclusive and accessible to all, but today some groups remain significantly under-represented, including women — a problem throughout the wider rail and engineering industry,” he said in a report.
Montreal-based engineering firms WSP Global and Snclavalin reported large gaps in wages and bonuses.
WSP’S hourly wage gap was 25 per cent while its women received 55 per cent lower bonuses, while Snc-lavalin said its wage gap was 38 per cent and the bonus gap was 67 per cent.
Philip Hoare, SNC’S CEO of U.K. and Europe, said that like most firms in the engineering and construction sector, its gender pay gap is largely a reflection that men account for nearly 75 per cent of its combined workforce and more than four to one in senior positions.