Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

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

Further to its observation, the Committee notes the detailed information supplied by the Government in its report in reply to the Committee's previous direct request.

1. At federal level, the Committee notes the adoption of the Employment Equity Act (Chapter 44) which, even though it does not contain provisions specifically relating to equal remuneration, its implementation has an effect in that its aim is to achieve equality in the workplace and specifically to correct the conditions of disadvantage experienced by some groups, including women. This act applies to the public service of Canada and to employers whose activity is regulated by the federal Government and establishes an Employment Equity Review Tribunal which is empowered to hear reviews or to confirm the orders of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the activities of the Tribunal and, where appropriate, to supply a copy of the ordinances handed down by the Tribunal on matters of principle concerning equal remuneration.

2. Provinces and territories: (a) Alberta. The Committee notes the amendment of section 6 of the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act (previously the Individual Rights Protection Act) which lays down formally the principle of equal remuneration for the same or "substantially similar" work. Recalling that the principle enshrined in the Convention goes beyond "identical or similar" work by placing the comparison at the level of value of the work, the Committee requests the Government to specify the exact meaning which should be given to the expression "substantially similar work". Furthermore, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply more detail on the follow-up given by the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission in regard to the seven complaints alleging salary discrimination on the basis of sex which were pending at 30 June 1996.

(b) Ontario. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the implementation in practice of the amendments made in 1993 to the Pay Equity Act which established two new methods of achieving pay equity (proportional value comparisons and proxy comparisons) in addition to the job-to-job comparison method. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government to the effect that the 1993 Act has been amended (with effect from 1 January 1997) to abandon the proxy method, to raise the equity adjustment rate and to shorten the time left to employers to carry out pay adjustments and thus achieve equity. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results of the comparison method used at present.

(c) Quebec. The Committee notes with interest that a proactive bill on wage equity has been placed before the National Assembly, in view of the conclusion reached by the Human Rights Commission that wage equity cannot be achieved solely by dealing with individual complaints and that only a proactive law could remedy the wage discrimination to which women are subject. This bill is therefore designed mainly to correct the wage differences due to discrimination based on the sex of the person (men or women) who occupy posts in predominantly female employment categories. The Committee requests the Government to indicate when the bill is adopted and to supply a copy.

(d) British Columbia and Nova Scotia. According to the report, no significant progress has been made during the period in question in regard to extending legislation concerning pay equity to sectors where the principle is not already applied. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on any development on these points.

(e) North West Territories. Although the Committee noted previously with interest that the principle of "equal value" was applied in practice, it notes that the Government recognizes that the formulation of section 6(1) of the Fair Practices Act which refers to equal remuneration for "similar or substantially similar work" is more restrictive than the principle in the Convention. The Committee notes, furthermore, that the report of the survey on pay equity in the North West Territories (carried out by the Canadian Human Rights Commission) concludes clearly that there is pay discrimination based on sex and that these conclusions, contested by the public authorities, have been largely confirmed by the Federal Court. Please give information on the measures envisaged to give full effect to the principle of the Convention.

3. The Committee notes that, according to the statistics supplied by the Government, the wage gap between men and women is shrinking slightly and, in 1995, women earned on average 79.1 per cent of men's earnings. The Committee notes the analysis by the Canadian Human Rights Commission concerning the persistence of a wage gap between the sexes that although the gap can be explained partly by a discrepancy between the number of hours of work, educational attainments and number of years worked in total, over 90 per cent of the total salary gap remains unexplained. The Canadian Human Rights Commission considers that this unexplained gap stems from a feature inherent either in the labour system or in the labour market as a whole; the most obvious explanation is the systemic discrimination against women's pay. Arriving at the conclusion that incentives cannot replace legislative requirements, the Canadian Human Rights Commission advocates amendment of section 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act so that employers' and workers' representatives must take the initiative to implement pay parity. It observes that, apart from the fact that this would alleviate the contentious aspect of complaints, such a strategy would place responsibility for the eradication of salary discrimination on those responsible for it. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the follow-up it intends to give to this recommendation by the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

4. Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee asked the Government to provide information on the implementation of the new job classification system and its possible impact on the resolution of equal pay issues. According to the information supplied by the Government, the Universal Classification Standard should be tested in Autumn 1996. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would inform it of the result of the validation tests and, if they are conclusive, to provide a copy of the final text.

5. Article 4. The Committee reiterates its request for information on measures taken at the federal level to encourage participation of workers' organizations in the implementation of legislation on equal remuneration. Noting that the Government of the North West Territories recognizes that the social partners are not directly involved in implementation of the Convention, it would be grateful if the Government would also supply information on the participation of the social partners in the implementation, at the level of provinces and territories, of the principle of equal remuneration.