Gender pay gap in Canada’s tech sector almost tripled over 5 years: study

A new study shows the gender pay gap in Canada’s tech sector almost tripled between 2016 and 2021.

Researchers at The Dias, a public policy organization based at Toronto Metropolitan University, says the average woman tech worker was making $71,400 in 2021 compared with $91,000 earned by their male counterpart.

They say that gap has widened significantly since 2016, when men earned $7,200 more than women.

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The gaps continued when researchers looked at the earnings of visible-minority tech workers, who made an average of $78,800 a year in Canada in 2021 compared with $93,000 for those not considered to be part of a visible minority group.

The average Indigenous tech worker was similarly found to make roughly $14,000 less than non-Indigenous counterparts making $86,800.

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The research The Dias published is based on census data concluding Canadian tech workers earn $40,000 more per year than workers employed in other fields. However, those behind the study say Canadian tech workers still make 46 per cent less on average than Americans.