Pay Transparency in British Columbia

The British Columbia Pay Transparency Act came into effect on May 11, 2023, with a goal of addressing the gender pay gap. The Act requires employers to be more transparent about pay and pay ranges, promotes pay equity, and encourages fair compensation practices. 

Requirements

• Public job postings must include the expected pay or pay range
• Employers cannot ask candidates what they have been paid by previous employers
• Employers cannot suspend, dismiss, demote, discipline or harass an employee who:
  • Asks about their pay
  • Reveals their pay to another employee or candidate
  • Asks about the employer’s pay transparency report
• Submit an annual pay transparency report

Pay Transparency Report

Annual pay transparency reports must be posted by November 1 each year. The goal of the report is to promote employer accountability by publicly sharing the status of gender pay gaps within the business. 

The requirement is being rolled out in stages, based on the number of employees.

Unless exempted by regulation, an employer who has the following number of employees on January 1 of the applicable year is a reporting employer, and must post a Pay Transparency Report by November 1 of that year:

1. for 2024, 1 000 or more;
2. for 2025, 300 or more;
3. for 2026, 50 or more;
4. for years after 2026, more than the lesser of 49 and any prescribed number.

Resources

• Guidance for preparing pay transparency reports (government website)
• Pay Transparency Reporting Tool - use is optional, provided all required information is included in the published report.
• Video demonstration of how to use the reporting tool
• Government webinars on pay transparency including a demonstration of the online tool:
  • August 25, 2025 – 11am
  • September 10, 2025 – 10am
  • September 22, 2025 – 10.30am

If you have any questions regarding pay transparency reporting, or any of the other requirements, please contact CFIB’s Business Advisors at 1-833-567-2342 or by email at cfib@cfib.ca

Government can be contacted at PayTransparency@gov.bc.ca