Canada Labour Code bars status-based wage gaps and caps temporary help agency fees
Federally regulated employers can no longer pay part-time, temporary, casual or seasonal workers a lower wage rate than full-time, permanent colleagues doing substantially the same job, after the Canada Labour Code’s long-delayed equal treatment rules took effect on Oct. 20, 2026.
The rules apply to industries such as banking, airlines, rail, interprovincial trucking, ports and telecommunications, plus federal Crown corporations and First Nations band councils. The federal public service is excluded.
Ottawa estimates 187,549 part-time and non-permanent employees and 19,250 small businesses will be affected in 2026.
Exposure varies by sector. Statistics Canada data cited in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS) accompanying the regulation put the average hourly gap between full-time and part-time workers at $16.03 in telecommunications and broadcasting and $12.79 in banking, in 2023 dollars – both more than double the $5.84 gap in transportation.
Pay equity compares job classes, while the new rules require an employee-to-employee analysis, as Canadian HR Reporter reported when new equal pay rules took shape for federally regulated employers.
Those gaps matter because the comparison test is broad. An employer cannot pay a lower rate of wages because of employment status where two employees in the same industrial establishment perform substantially the...
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