‘You fund what you value’: Group calls for end to gender pay gap

Advocates rally in Toronto for 'Equal Pay Day', calling to end pay discrimination and expand access to affordable childcare across Canada. Heather Wright has mo

TORONTO — Today is the 104th day of 2026, a day that marks the extra time the average woman needs to work to earn as much as the average man. At a rally today in downtown Toronto, members of the Ontario Equal Pay Coalition called on the government to do more to close the gender pay gap.

“We are here today because we believe in equal pay, simply put,” said Sami Pritchard, director of advocacy and communication at YWCA Toronto. She says female-dominated fields like nursing, support work and education remain underfunded. “These are the folks who held us through some of the toughest times... and we want to ensure they’re paid a fair and livable wage.”

According to the group, women in Ontario earn 28 per cent less on average than men, a gap that is widening for marginalized communities. Statistics Canada says last year women aged 25-54 earned 89 cents for every dollar earned by men, a slight increase from 81 cents in 1997.

The group says care work is one of of the biggest drivers of the gender pay gap. They say child-care workers are among those being underpaid for doing essential work the economy depends on.

“We’re still not giving child-care people what they need,” said Kathleen Gallagher-Ross, a retired educator who came to the rally to support teachers and early childhood educators. “The educators can’t come today so that’s why I came.”

In addition to calls for higher wages, the group also wants the Ontario government to deliver on its promise of $10-a-day childcare. The federal government had set an April 2026 deadline of hitting that target but so far only five provinces and the three territories have reached the threshold; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia have not. The groups says unaffordable childcare disproportionately impacts women.

“You fund what you value,” said Michaela Kargus, a vice-president with the Ontario Federation of Labour, who is calling for funding increases for health care, childcare and education along with a boost to wages.

“I think it’s really important that we understand that our care economy fuels the economy. There is no work without care work. No one can go to work if their children, their elders are not cared for. And these (jobs) are fundamentally powered by women’s work.”