Introduce proactive pay equity legislation for federally-regulated workers.

What success looks like

Equal pay for work of equal value in federally regulated sectors. Proactive pay equity is expected to contribute to: • reducing the gender wage gap by addressing the undervaluation of work traditionally performed by women; and • fairness in the workplace.

Government's narrative on progress

With the December 2018 passing of the new *Pay Equity Act*, as well as amendments to related legislation, the government delivered on its commitment to replace the current complaint-based approach to pay equity in the federal jurisdiction with a proactive system. These new authorities represent a dramatic shift in how the right to pay equity is protected in federally regulated workplaces and will come into force on a day to be set by order of the Governor in Council. In developing a proactive approach to pay equity, the government considered the recommendations of the 2004 Bilson Task Force Report on Pay Equity, the 2016 Report of the House of Commons Special Committee on Pay Equity, lessons from models in Ontario and Quebec, as well as feedback received from employer, employee and advocacy stakeholders during the 2017 Labour Program roundtables on pay equity system design elements. In the 2018 Fall Economic Statement, the government announced that it would provide a total of $26.6 million over six years, starting in 2018–19, and $5.8 million per year ongoing to support the new Pay Equity Commissioner and the new Pay Equity Unit within the Canadian Human Rights Commission to implement and administer the proactive pay equity legislation for the federally regulated public and private sectors once it comes into force.

Note: this is the government's own description, not an independent assessment.