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April 14, 2026, is Equal Pay Day in Canada. The day marks, on average, how many months into the new year a woman must work to earn what men did by December 31, 2025.
Equal pay is not a privilege, it is a basic right. Across Canada, women continue to earn less than men for work of equal value. The gap is not about skill or effort. It is systemic inequality that undervalues women’s labour and disproportionately impacts sectors where women are overrepresented. In Ontario, the average woman earns $0.68 for every dollar a man makes, with even further disparities for equity-deserving groups. This means less money, reduced pensions and fewer opportunities over their lifetime.
As part of the Equal Pay Coalition, Unifor is proud to unite with coalition partners to share the message that: Care Counts. The reality is that there is no functioning economy without the care economy. That’s why, this year’s Equal Pay Day message highlights the urgent need to protect and expand child care services, and ensure child care workers are paid a pay equity compliant fair wage.
The crisis in child care, underscored by a lack of access to affordable spaces, is rooted in a systemic failure to value the professionals – overwhelmingly women workers – who make it possible. The median wage for Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs) is less than $25.00 per hour. In Ontario, that’s $7.00 less per hour than the median wage for men: $32.00 per hour. As a result of low pay, too few RECEs enter the field, and too many leave the profession, with many exiting after only three years.
Unifor joins the Equal Pay Coalition in calling for immediate action to close the pay gap for child care workers. The Coalition is calling on the Ontario government to pay its share to expand child care services in the province before the provincial funding agreement expires at the end of 2026. That means:
- Introduce a provincial wage grid that would set RECE wages at $35 to $45 per hour, with benefits and a pension. All non-RECE workers in the child care sector must also have pay-equity compliant wage grids.
- Fully fund the province’s share of the national child care program. Bring the cost for parents down to $10-a-day.
- Commit to long-term funding for real $10-a-day child care.
Women being paid fairly is not just a women’s issue. It’s a justice issue. This Equal Pay Day, join Unifor to demand investment in the people who care for us and our families. You can do this by wearing red on April 14 to show your support and start a conversation and visit equalpaycoalition.org to use and share their campaign tool.
This Equal Pay Day, take action for women’s economic justice, because care counts.
