Pay gap between men and women in Canada's tech scene nearly $20K per year
As Canada’s burgeoning tech scene continues to produce world-class companies, it’s now attracting the attention of international heavy-hitters such as Google, Apple and Amazon.
But more importantly, from coast to coast, our country is investing heavily in tech’s most valuable resource, people.
Since 2016, almost 200,000 new tech jobs have been added, demonstrating that Canada’s tech workers are a major component of the country’s workforce.
A new report from the Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Toronto’s Ryerson University sheds some light on who Canada’s tech workers are and on the difference between the men and women holding those positions.
The big takeaway from the report, which is titled Who are Canada’s Tech Workers? and uses 2016 Statistics Canada census data, is Canadian women working in tech, with a bachelor’s degree or higher, earn nearly $20,000 less a year than their male counterparts.
See also
- These are the top emerging and most in-demand jobs in Canada in 2019
- Toronto ranked one of the fastest-growing technology innovation hubs in the world
- Report: Toronto beats San Francisco Bay area in new tech jobs and New York in 'talent'
When comparing women and men working in tech occupations, the pay gap is stark, with men earning $19,570 more than women per year, despite having the same degree and profession.
According to Brookfield, women average $75,500 a year, compared with $95,100 for men.
The report also revealed that the pay gap between men and women is greater for older workers, which “might indicate that pay differentials increase as careers progress or might reflect an improvement in pay equity in recent years.”
When all of Canada’s tech jobs were examined, regardless of education, the pay gap shrinks to $7,300 with men earning $76,200 annually on average and women earning roughly $68,900.
Brookfield Institute
“These findings, unfortunately, do not come as a surprise. It has long been the case that gender representation and earnings in tech occupations are far from equal,” said Brookfield.
Furthermore, the gender pay gap continues to grow as “careers progress and salaries increase, resulting in particularly stark differences at the top of the wage distribution.”
Brookfield says there were about 935,000 Canadians working tech occupations in 2016, representing 5.1% of the Canadian labour force.