WHEREAS April 14th marks Equal Pay Day in Ontario, representing how much further into 2026 the average woman must work to earn what the average man earned in 2025;
WHEREAS Ontario’s gender pay gap remains significant, with women earning only $0.72 for every dollar earned by men, and this gap is wider for women with disabilities, Black women, Indigenous women and racialized women;
WHEREAS as inflation continues to soar, Ontario women are struggling to afford essentials for themselves and their families;
WHEREAS Ontario’s Budget 2026 failed women by refusing to invest in our care economy—jobs in child care, health care, long term care and community social services where women disproportionately work, and that provide services they rely on;
WHEREAS closing the gender pay gay will make life easier and more affordable for all Ontarians;
THEREFORE WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, PETITION THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO AS FOLLOWS:
To take immediate action to fund Ontario’s care economy, end the discriminatory gender pay gap and ensure equal pay of work for equal value.