International Equal Pay Day

September 18, 2020, marks the first International Equal Pay Day.

It is estimated that the gender pay gap is 23% globally. According to Statistics Canada, on average, full-time working women in Canada earn 32% less than men. This gap is wider for Indigenous women (35%), women with a disability (46%), and racialized women (33%). This gender pay gap is a major contributor to women’s poverty.

International Equal Pay Day is an opportunity to recognize how far Canadian women have come in the last 40 years, and how much progress there is still yet to be made.