Wage Gap Changes among Organizations Subject to the Employment Equity Act

Canada's "Employment Equity Act" is designed to promote the presence of designated group members (women, visible minorities, aboriginal peoples and disabled persons) in the workplace. By increasing access to better paying jobs, the wage gap between designated group members and white men should be closing. This study examines wage gap reductions among organizations subject to the Act as well as the role Employment Equity Programs (EEPs) play in closing the wage gap. Using five years of data, we find that: (1) organizations subject to the Act are slowly closing the wage gap; and, (2) organizations with more formalized, comprehensive and supported EEPs are closing the wage gap more rapidly. Implications to policy-makers, practitioners and researchers are discussed.