Ontario women earn roughly 70% of what men do, and this gap widens for women who are racialized, Indigenous, immigrants, temporary migrants, disabled, or LGBTQ. It takes a woman in Ontario 15.5 months to earn what a man does in 12. This is the reason that Equal Pay Day is held in April, three-and-a-half months into the new year.
For Equal Pay Day 2016, CUPE Ontario and the CUPE Ontario Women’s Committee took part in several actions to draw attention to the gender pay gap, including leafleting on Bay Street and setting up a pop-up Gender Pay Gap Bake Shop. Members also joined the Equal Pay Coalition rally in downtown Toronto, where CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn addressed the crowd and called on the government to take immediate action to close the gender wage gap.