The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) has secured extensions to the deadlines for implementing pay equity plans within the core public administration (CPA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The extensions, granted by the Pay Equity Commissioner, reflect the complexity of developing pay equity plans for Canada’s largest employer, which encompasses more than 270,000 public servants, including 21,000 RCMP members. The TBS now has an additional three years to finalize the pay equity plan for CPA employees and an additional 18 months for RCMP members.
The Government of Canada emphasized its commitment to ensuring that women in the public service receive equal pay for work of equal value, a process that requires extensive collaboration between employer and employee representatives. Despite significant progress, the Treasury Board had applied for deadline extensions on May 31, 2024, due to the intricate nature of the task.
“Creating pay equity plans in such diverse organizations is a complex undertaking requiring deep collaboration between the employer and employee representatives,” a statement issued by TBS noted.
The Pay Equity Act, passed in 2018, alongside the Pay Equity Regulations that came into force in 2021, guides this initiative. According to TBS, employees entitled to increases in compensation under the final pay equity plans will receive those adjustments, along with interest, retroactive to the original deadline of September 4, 2024.