BC’s Pay Transparency Act: A Leader's Guide to the Nov. 1st Deadline

Published on August 30, 2025

1-Minute Summary for Leaders

On November 1, 2025, the next phase of the B.C. Pay Transparency Act will apply to over 700 employers in B.C. with 300 or more employees.^[1] The government's latest report from June 2025 revealed that 58% of large employers who reported last year had significant pay gaps favouring men, and it confirmed that collecting the required data was the biggest challenge. For leaders not yet prepared, the time for strategic action is now.

As a leader in British Columbia, the final countdown has begun. The Pay Transparency Act, designed to combat systemic pay discrimination by making compensation transparent, is about to enter its most public-facing phase for mid-sized companies. The B.C. government's June 2025 Pay Transparency Report shows the law's impact and serves as a wake-up call for leaders.

While B.C.'s overall gender pay gap has seen a modest decrease to 15%, it remains the fourth-largest in Canada.^[1] The upcoming November 1st reporting deadline moves your organization from internal process changes to public accountability, and the time to prepare is running out.

The Non-Negotiable Foundation

By now, the foundational rules of the Act should be a "done deal" within your business. Salary ranges are required on all job ads—a mandate with which approximately 85% of B.C. job postings now comply—pay history questions are eliminated, and these changes are codified in your official company policies.^[1]

A Critical Point on Recruiters and Liability

The Ministry of Finance's report shows the government is actively enforcing the Act, having received 242 complaints in 2024, most related to job postings. It is crucial to remember that the employer is ultimately liable for the actions of agents acting on their behalf. If a third-party recruiter you hired violates the Act while representing your company, the legal responsibility may fall on your organization.^[1]

A Look Ahead: Lessons from the First Wave of Reports

The June 2025 government report gives us a crystal ball into what the 300+ employee cohort can expect. The findings from the large employers who reported in 2024 are stark:

Pay Gaps are Common: Nearly 6 out of 10 employers (58%) revealed that they paid men at least 5% more than women. For non-binary employees, the gap was even more prevalent, with 68% of employers paying them at least 5% less than men.^[1]
Data Collection is the Biggest Hurdle: In a post-report survey, employers noted that "collecting gender data from employees took the most time and required careful planning".
Leadership is Taking Action: Vancity Credit Union, in a quote featured in the report, acknowledged that their report revealed a gap and stated, "So we took action... [we] reimagine our systems to better address pay gaps". This sets the standard for a proactive, responsible employer.^[1]

The 2-Month Countdown: Your Reporting Requirements

The November 1st deadline is for the submission of your report, but as the 2024 findings show, the preparation should have been underway for months. If you are just starting, you are in a critical two-month window to complete a year's worth of data preparation. Here are the core requirements:

Demographic Data Collection: You must make a reasonable effort to collect gender information from all employees, using the categories of 'Man' (M), 'Woman' (W), 'Non-binary' (X), and 'Unknown' (U). This must be done in accordance with the province's Gender and Sex Data Standard. If an employee does not provide this information, they must be counted in the 'Unknown' category.
Calculation of Pay Gaps: The report requires you to calculate both the mean (average) and median (midpoint) pay gaps for hourly rates, overtime pay, and bonus pay.
Submission and Posting: The report must be completed using the government's online reporting tool, which requires a Business BCeID, and then posted on a publicly accessible website.

For full details, please refer to the official government source: Reporting Requirements - Province of British Columbia.

The Deeper Conversation: Pay Equality vs. Pay Equity

This Act is an important step in the right direction, mainly focusing on pay equality—the idea that everyone should receive the same pay for doing the same or similar work. But it also paves the way for a deeper and very important discussion about pay equity.

Pay equity is about ensuring everyone receives equal pay for work that is equal or of similar value, even if the jobs are different. This is where the real challenge comes in. For instance, the Act might not quickly address the longstanding issue of lower pay in roles traditionally held by women, like early childhood educators. Since these roles are often gender-segregated, it's hard to make direct comparisons within an organization or in the broader market due to the limited number of male employees in such positions.

It's also valuable to look beyond just the broad category of 'woman.' From a diversity perspective, an internal audit should consider whether pay gaps exist based on other protected grounds, such as ethnicity. Sometimes, higher pay for certain women might hide lower pay for others, especially when intersecting factors come into play. Although these important details might not clearly appear in the public report just yet, they are definitely worth exploring as part of an internal review. This approach helps any organization truly work towards fairness and equity.

The Clock is Ticking: Let's Prepare You for November 1st

Navigating a compressed timeline for data collection and analysis is a significant challenge. AuroraHR is a trusted partner to B.C. businesses, helping them meet their legal obligations effectively and strategically.

Our support includes rapid-response data collection frameworks and a Confidential Pay Equity Audit and Reporting Strategy Session to ensure you are not just compliant, but also confident in the story your data will tell.

Source

[1] Pay Transparency Annual Report, June 2025. B.C. Ministry of Finance. All in-text citations refer to this report.