Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Canada (Ratification: 1972)

With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the detailed information supplied by the Government in its report and the attached documentation.

1. The Committee notes with interest the amendment which entered into force on 19 June 1990 of the Pay Equity Act of Nova Scotia to add universities, municipalities and municipal enterprises to the pay equity process and to allow the addition of other public sector corporations and bodies through regulations. It also notes that the plan to introduce pay equity legislation to the private sector not later than the 1992 session of the Nova Scotia legislature remains under consideration and that the Pay Equity Commission has prepared a paper on the subject. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the progress made in this regard.

2. The Committee also notes with interest the information supplied on the implementation in practice of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in the public service in other provinces and the Northwest Territories. In particular, it notes the Pay Equity Programme announced on 11 September 1990 for the public sector in British Columbia, the job evaluation process completed in the public service of New Brunswick (comprising government departments and agencies and certain hospitals) and that the government of the Northwest Territories, which is subject to the Canadian Human Rights Act, is implementing pay equity throughout the public service by establishing new job descriptions for each position and by classifying those positions with a view to eliminating gender bias. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply information on the progress achieved, including statistical data indicating the results attained, in these and other cases in the application in practice of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in all areas of the public sector.

3. As regards the federal level, the Committee notes with interest the enforcement activities of the Canadian Human Rights Commission and Labour Canada and the progress achieved in implementing pay equity legislation in areas under federal jurisdiction. It requests the Government to continue to report on the progress achieved with regard to reform of equal pay legislation at the federal level.

4. The Committee also notes with interest the Government's commitment to the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in the public service, including the retroactive lump-sum payments and ongoing pay adjustments for approximately 73,400 federal employees in the Clerical and Regulatory, Secretarial, Stenographic and Typing and Education Support groups. The Committee requests the Government to continue supplying information concerning pay adjustments which apply in practice the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in the federal public service.

5. The Committee notes that the province of British Columbia also endorsed the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in the public sector without adopting legislation. The Committee requests the Government to indicate what progress has been achieved in applying the principle of equal pay for work of equal value to the sectors where the concept still has not been used in legislation or endorsed otherwise, in both the public and private sectors.

6. The Committee notes from the latest statistics provided that the discrepancies between the average earnings of men and women substantially decreased between 1971 and 1989, and that there is still no significant improvement since the 1980s. It requests the Government to continue supplying information on any further progress achieved with regard to eliminating the gap between the average earnings of men and women.