The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is calling on the provincial government to take urgent action to close the gender pay gap by fully funding Ontario’s child care system and enforcing pay equity‑compliant wages for child care workers.
Equal Pay Day marks how far into the year the average woman must work to earn what the average man earned in the previous year. In Ontario, the gender pay gap remains profound, particularly for women working in care, education, and public services.
One of the biggest drivers of the gender pay gap is the chronic undervaluation of care work. Child care workers are doing skilled, essential work that makes every other job possible, yet Ontario continues to underpay them and starve the system of the funding it needs.
Despite commitments under the Canada‑Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) program, Ontario has failed to deliver on the promise of $10‑a‑day child care. Parent fees remain too high, thousands of child care spaces are missing, and workers who are legally entitled to pay‑equity‑compliant wages are still earning poverty‑level pay.
The province’s refusal to properly fund child care is a political choice and women and gender-diverse workers are paying the price. Equal pay doesn’t happen by accident. It requires governments to fund public services, respect labour and human rights, and value women’s work.
On Equal Pay Day, the OFL is calling on the Ontario government to:
- Fully fund child care as a public service;
- Deliver truly affordable $10‑a‑day child care;
- Implement pay‑equity‑compliant wage grids, benefits, and pensions for all child care workers; and
- Treat gender equality as a human rights obligation, not a budget afterthought.
Closing the gender pay gap is both a matter of justice and a matter of economic sense. Care counts. Wages matter. And women deserve equality now. #ShowUsTheMoney !
Join the fight for pay equity. Learn more: https://equalpaycoalition.org/
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