Ontario's Pay Equity Office celebrates international communications award for Level the Paying Field series

TORONTO, April 27, 2022 /CNW/ - Kadie Ward, Commissioner and CAO of Ontario's Pay Equity Commission issues a statement on receiving an international communications award of merit:

"The team at Ontario's Pay Equity Office is honoured to be recognized for excellence in governmental communication with a 2022 Gold Quill Award of Merit," Ward announced. For more than 40 years, the Gold Quill Awards of the International Association of Business Communicators have recognized communications work from around the world that soars above the average, taking public communication to new heights. This year, the Gold Quill Award of Merit, widely acknowledged as one of the most prestigious forms of recognition in the industry, was awarded to Ontario's Pay Equity Office for its topical and impactful campaign – Level the Paying Field.

"The economic impacts of pay inequity are large and measurable. We wanted to know more about gender and pay equity's resurgence as an imperative to post-COVID economic recovery," says Ward. The team at the Pay Equity Office set out to achieve this via a 6-part video and podcast-series called Level the Paying Field in which Commissioner Ward hosts a series of compelling discussions about gender wage gaps and how to close them, with experts from the International Labour Organization, Harvard Business School, the University of Toronto, and more.

Join Ontario's Pay Equity Office in celebrating this award-winning campaign that elevates the equity conversation to make the world a more equitable place for women to work, live, and thrive, and support closing the gender wage gap. Watch the series now at https://www.levelthepayingfield.ca or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Quick Facts:

• In 2021, amid a global pandemic, the global economy saw unanticipated yet devastating regression in women's labour market participation and exacerbation of the gender wage gap.
• While Ontario has had the most advanced pay equity legislation globally for the past 30 years, the gender wage gap persists and has threatened to widen at home as women's employment plummeted with rising COVID cases and lockdowns.
• Level The Paying Field is a six-part video series and podcast series covering topics related to economics, equity, women, work and money and explore the gender wage gap.
• The gender wage gap (GWG) is the difference between wages earned by men and wages earned by women.
• According to Statistics Canada, for the average annual salary earnings, the gender wage gap (GWG) is 29%, or 71 cents. Calculated on the basis of average hourly wages, the GWG in 2021 was 11%. This means that for every $1.00 earned by a male worker, a female worker earns 89 cents. The gap is even wider for Indigenous women in Canada who earn 65 cents on the dollar, racialized women who earn 67 cents, and newcomer women who earn 71 cents.
• Globally, calculated on the basis of average hourly wages, the GWG remains at 18.8% worldwide, ranging from 12.6% in low-income countries to 29% in upper middle-income countries.
• Ontario was the first jurisdiction globally to pass a Pay Equity Act in 1988 covering public and private employers. The Pay Equity Office promotes gender economic equality by administering the Act. Its purpose is to eliminate pay inequity between women and men who perform work that is of comparable value to their organization. The Act applies to all public sector organizations in Ontario, and to private sector organizations with 10 or more employees.
• The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is the recognized global community of communication professionals representing diverse industries and disciplines. For more than 40 years, IABC's Gold Quill Awards have recognized and awarded excellence in strategic communication worldwide.

SOURCE Pay Equity Office

To schedule an interview with Commissioner Ward: Please contact: Olena Tykhomyrova, Program Specialist, 416-473-9796 | [email protected]