Monsef helps launch national pay equity

Status of Women minister and local MP also announces creation of Department for Women and Gender Equality

Status of Women Minister Maryam Monsef, along with two other federal ministers, introduced long-anticipated pay-equity legislation as well as a new department for women and gender equality, earlier this week.

The Peterborough-Kawartha MP , along with Labour Minister Patty Hadju and Treasury Board President Scott Brison, held a news conference late Monday in Ottawa to discuss the new pay equity measures the federal government plans to introduce for federally regulated workers.

In 2017, according to government figures reported by The Canadian Press, Canadian women earned 88.5 cents for every dollar a man earned.

Under the proposed legislation, employers would have to review their pay practices and ensure that women and men who work in federally regulated workplace earn equal pay for equal work.

The rules would apply to all federally regulated employers who have 10 workers or more, according to a government news release.

This would include private-sector workplaces such as banks and railways, the federal public service and the offices of the prime minister and other ministers.

But it could be several years before pay equity is a reality across Canada.

Affected employers will have three years to review their compensation practices once the legislation is enacted. Furthermore, the legislation isn’t expected to be in force until a year after it passes and receives Royal Assent.

Status of Women Canada will also be replaced under the legislation by the new Department for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE), Monsef announced.

The idea is to “modernize and formalize the role of the department and its minister”, states the federal government’s release.

WAGE’s mandate will also be expanded, the release states, “to include sexual orientation, gender identity and expression” and will also aim to promote a better understanding of gender-based analysis used for decision-making.

“These things are not just the right things to do, they are the smart things to do because advancing gender equality benefits everyone,” Monsef stated.

Monsef wasn’t available for comment on Tuesday.

ADRIAN WYLD THE CANADIAN PRESS Employment, Workforce Development and Labour Minister Patricia Hajdu looks on as Status of Women Minister and Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef speaks Monday during a pay equity announcement in Ottawa.