Press release
KJIPUKTUK/HALIFAX—A new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives finds that Atlantic Canada is home to some of the lowest and highest gender pay gaps in the country. This report also shows the gaps by sector, industry, occupation, and unionization status, as well as key demographic indicators, including racialized status, Indigenous status, and immigration status. This report calculates how many extra days into 2026 the average woman in each province must work in order to make how much the average man made in 2025. June 12th was Equal Pay Day for women in Newfoundland and Labrador who face the second largest provincial pay gap in the country.
“Equal Pay Day reminds us that women are still working days, weeks, and in some cases, months longer to earn what men earned the year before,” says Christine Saulnier, co-author of the report and Nova Scotia Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. “While the size of the gender pay gap varies across Atlantic Canada, the pattern is unmistakable: women earn less than men in every province. The gaps are even larger for racialized women, Indigenous women, immigrant women, and women with disabilities. These inequalities reflect discrimination, how our labour market values work, who has access to good jobs, and the policies governments choose to implement. Closing these gaps will require stronger pay equity laws, better wages and working conditions, stronger collective bargaining rights, and continued investment in care supports such as child care.”
Jody Dallaire, Chair of the New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity/Coalition pour l’équité salariale du Nouveau-Brunswick, “This report puts numbers to what working women have lived for decades, and confirms that the gaps are built into the system. New Brunswick has just made pay transparency law, a concrete step forward. But revealing the problem is not the same as solving it. Pay equity is the best tool to correct the historic undervaluation of work done mostly by women, and our government’s commitment to extend it to the private and care sectors would be the most significant step of its kind in Canada since Quebec in 1996. Equal pay for work of equal value is a fundamental human right, and women cannot afford to wait any longer.”
“This report on gender pay equity in Canada is an essential piece of reporting for advocates, government, and employers alike,” says Vanessa Bradley, Executive Director, PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women. “It’s encouraging to see that PEI has the lowest wage gap in Canada at 5%, and this report also shows that there is other important data that reveals more of the full story. PEI has the greatest gap of the Atlantic provinces between racialized women and non-racialized men at 42%, which is a statistic that deserves attention and advocacy. Reports like Closing the Gaps shed necessary light on where we’re missing the mark, and how we need to continue to advocate for pay equity for all.”
“It is unacceptable that women in Nova Scotia earn significantly less than men. We need stronger pay-equity legislation and enforcement to end this unfairness,” said Melissa Marsman, President of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour. “Fair pay is a human rights issue and an economic issue, and households across the province are looking to decisionmakers to take action.”
Full report
Provincial fact sheets
About the authors
Daniel Cerdas Sandí
Daniel Cerdas (he/him) is a political scientist with a Master’s in Sociology and a Ph.D. in Social Science Research. He has over a decade of experience as a research and policy analyst, working at the intersection of labour rights and public policy. His work has focused on freedom of association, collective bargaining, international labour standards, gender equity, and informal work. Daniel has held roles with governments, unions, and international organizations, and is committed to advancing inclusive, evidence-based policy. At the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia (CCPA-NS), Daniel contributes to key projects including the Living Wage Reports for Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island; the Nova Scotia Productivity Report; the Nova Scotia Alternative Budget; and research on precarious work in the province.
Christine Saulnier
Christine Saulnier (she/her) is Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia. She has a doctorate in Political Science from York University. She leads the living wage calculations for communities across Atlantic Canada and serves as a co-author of the annual child and family poverty report cards for Nova Scotia. She has written extensively, and given commentary on a range of other public policy issues including fiscal policy, labour markets, and child care policy. She serves on the Steering Committee of Child Care Now Nova Scotia, and Campaign 2000 (national coalition to end child and family poverty). She served on the Board of the NS Health Coalition and Adsum for 10 years.
