Pay equity

Pay equity aims to correct wage disparities by ensuring that jobs traditionally held by women are compensated at the same rate as jobs of comparable value traditionally held by men.

It’s important to note that having a 0% wage gap does not necessarily mean a workplace has pay equity if, for example, there is still job clustering at the workplace.

The Pay Equity Act requires public sector organizations to regularly evaluate and adjust wages to address inequities, maintain pay equity plans and report on compliance. The act aims to eliminate gender-based wage gaps and ensure pay is based on job value rather than gender stereotypes.

To achieve pay equity, employers must consider:

• job evaluation: compare roles mainly performed by women and men based on qualifications, effort, responsibility and working conditions
• assessment: determine if jobs are of comparable value (methods include point-factor, job-to-job comparison, classification and factor comparison)
• pay adjustment: ensure equal pay for jobs of equal value
• monitoring and maintenance: regularly review pay practices to sustain pay equity

The wage gap is the difference between the average wages earned by men and the average wages earned by women. It is caused by outdated societal attitudes and beliefs about the place and value of women in the workplace.

Although the terms wage gap and pay equity are frequently used interchangeably, they are not the same thing. However, they both relate to the same concern: the gap in earnings between men and women.

In 2024, New Brunswick’s hourly wage gap was 7.3%, compared to the national average of 11.3%. While New Brunswick has one of the smallest wage gaps in Canada (second only to Prince Edward Island), the problem is not fully solved.

It’s important to reduce the wage gap because it is one way to secure immediate and long-term economic improvements including:

• increasing the supply of skilled workers 
• creating a more stable workforce
• improving organizational performance and competitiveness 

New Brunswick's population is declining and aging faster than the rest of Canada's. This points to not only a shrinking labour force, but also a rise in demand for skilled workers. Women are a key element because they represent nearly half the labour force, yet many are underemployed or not employed to their full potential. It has been proven that strategies to reduce the wage gap also increase the number of skilled workers, create a stable workforce and improve a company's bottom line. 

Employers that reduce the wage gap also benefit from improved competitiveness, greater access to talent, and stronger economic stability.

Today women represent almost half the workforce, but they are still expected to nurture the family and meet its needs. This can result in a struggle to balance work and family responsibilities, which is identified as a key contributor to the wage gap.

Historically, women and men tend to work in a narrow range of traditional jobs – this is called "job clustering." Traditional female jobs typically employ skills that women have used in nurturing their families and managing their homes and are often undervalued and underpaid.

This contributor refers to paying lower wages to women, regardless of whether men perform the same duties. These pay practices are inherited from a period when men’s work contribution was more fully valued in the workplace. Because it is deeply rooted in our society, employers sometimes discriminate in what they pay their workers without knowing it.

To achieve pay equity, employers need to assess all jobs for their value and then assign equal wages for jobs of equal value.

The Pay Equity Bureau offers:

• quick guides and learning modules
• training materials and educational resources
• statistics and reports to inform best practices
• support for implementing or maintaining pay equity

Employers can review the quick guide to pay equity for more information.