By Sadie Janes
Source: Benefits Canada
Canada’s gender pension gap is growing as Canadian women received an average of 18 per cent less retirement income than men in 2020, according to a report by Ontario’s pay equity office.
It found the gap is more pronounced among women in visible minority groups (37 per cent), among sources of private retirement income (28 per cent) and is three per cent higher than the 15 per cent gap observed in 1976, the earliest year for which data is available.
“This means women have been receiving less retirement income for at least 44 years, so the gender pension gap has persisted even though women’s labour force participation has actually increased and the gender wage gap is narrowing overtime,” says Kadie Ward, commissioner and chief administrative officer at Ontario’s Pay Equity Commission.