TL;DR: If your business had 50 or more employees in B.C. on January 1, 2026, you have to publish a pay transparency report by November 1st, 2026. The good news: the province has a free tool that does the math for you as long as you have all the payroll data for your last full year (January to December 2025 for most businesses, not 2026 year-to-date).
What is the B.C. Pay Transparency Act, and do I really have to do this by Sunday?
B.C. passed the Pay Transparency Act in 2023. One part of it requires larger employers to publish a yearly report on whether there's a pay gap between men, women, non-binary employees, and people who'd rather not say.
It's been rolling out in stages. Government and the big Crown corporations went first in 2023. Then came employers with 1,000+ employees in 2024, and 300+ in 2025. This year, it reached 50+ employees, bringing in many businesses for the first time. If this is the first you've heard of it, you're not alone.
Does this apply to me?
It does if:
You had 50 or more employees in B.C. as of January 1, 2026.
Your count includes remote employees based in B.C., not just people in your office.
If you're federally regulated (think banks, airlines, telecoms), different rules may apply. Check before you do anything.
What happens if I miss it?
There's currently no fine, and the Act doesn't include penalties for missing the deadline. However, there are still good reasons to get it done:
It's public: The whole point of the report is that people can see it. Employees and job candidates can tell when it's missing.
Employees can report you: The province has a Director of Pay Transparency whose job includes receiving complaints about employers who don't comply. Every year the government publishes how many complaints came in.
It's still the law: The Act is due for a review within five years, and a law without penalties today won't necessarily stay that way.
What goes in the report?
Your business name, mailing address, and NAICS code (your industry classification)
The reporting period: your most recent complete 12-month calendar or fiscal year
Your employee count range (50–299, 300–999, or 1,000+)
Pay gaps by gender (Man, Woman, Non-binary, and Unknown or Prefer not to answer), covering hourly pay, overtime, and bonuses, using means and medians
Hide any group with fewer than 10 people to protect privacy, so small teams won't expose anyone's pay.
What you need to do this weekend (before Nov. 1st, 2026)
Employee Count: Count all B.C.-based employees—including full-time, part-time, and remote staff—as of January 1, 2026.
System Access: Register for a Business BCeID immediately, as it is required to log into the government portal, and deadlines will not be extended for registration delays.
Payroll Export: Gather comprehensive data for the reporting period, including hours worked, regular pay, special salary, overtime hours/pay, and bonuses.
Gender Data: Use existing employee-provided gender information. Classify missing data as "Unknown or prefer not to answer" without guessing.
Submission: Complete the report in a single session via the government tool, as the system does not save drafts.
Public Posting: Publish the final report on your public-facing website (not an internal intranet) or display it physically in the workplace if you don't have a website.
Corrections: Utilize the 30-day window to make edits or corrections after finalizing the report.
Already run payroll with PaymentEvolution? You can access the data you need easily:
Year-to-date totals for everyone: Log in to your dashboard and go to Reports > Yearly > Year to Date Journal > Create New Report, set the year to match your reporting period, and download it. If you report on the calendar year, that's 2025. If your fiscal year ended in 2026, pull both years so you cover the full 12 months.
Pay broken down by earning type (regular, overtime, bonus): go to Reports > Employee HX > Pay Explorer and switch the report type to Custom. Uncheck everything, select the earnings you need, then export to Excel or PDF.
These exports give you the raw numbers, not the finished report. To turn them into one, you'll still need to import it into the government tool, unless you work out the calculations yourself.
And next year: you have to give employees a chance to share or update their gender information every year. Build that into onboarding and an annual check-in so next November is easier.
For accountants
Two important things to note: First, it happens every year. Every November 1, any client with 50+ B.C. employees must publish a new report. Second, it won’t be the last compliance requirement that runs on payroll data. New rules keep coming, and your clients will bring each one to you first, because plenty of business owners would gladly hand that headache to someone they already trust.
Keeping up with every new rule, for every client, can be difficult to manage. That’s why we’re building EVOLV with accounting firms in mind: to help you take on work like this and offer more proactive services at scale. Your clients get one less thing to worry about, and you become their strategic advisor.
FAQ
Do I have to use the government's tool?
No, you can prepare the report another way, as long as it includes everything the regulation requires.
I never asked employees about gender. Am I stuck?
No, anyone who hasn't shared it goes in the "Unknown or prefer not to answer" category. From now on, you have to give employees the chance to share or update it every year.
Does my report automatically go to the government?
No. You post it publicly and keep it up until next year's report replaces it.
Do I have to do this every year?
Yes, every November 1, as long as you had 50+ employees in B.C. on January 1 of that year. Each report covers your most recent full year. You also have to give employees a chance to update their gender information once a year.
What data do I need to get my report done accurately?
For each employee, covering your last full year (January to December 2025 for most businesses): hours worked, regular pay, overtime hours and pay, bonuses, any special salary, and gender if they've shared it. Hours worked are usually the hardest to pull, especially if they're on paper timesheets. If you run payroll with PaymentEvolution, most of this is already in your Year-to-Date Journal (see the steps above).
I'm an accountant. Can I do this for my clients?
Yes. Nothing says the employer has to prepare it personally. It just has to be posted under their name. More on that below.
Canada's most loved payroll, HR, and benefits
Trusted by thousands of businesses, PaymentEvolution is Canada's largest and most loved cloud payroll, HR, and benefits management service. Accountants, bookkeepers, and financial institutions in Canada rely on us for payroll expertise and payroll services for their clientele. See why over 20,000 businesses trust us every day.
[Get started with PaymentEvolution →]
This article is general information, not legal advice. If you're unsure whether the Act applies to you, check the province's guidance or talk to your accountant.
TL;DR: If your business had 50 or more employees in B.C. on January 1, 2026, you have to publish a pay transparency report by November 1st, 2026. The good news: the province has a free tool that does the math for you as long as you have all the payroll data for your last full year (January to December 2025 for most businesses, not 2026 year-to-date).
What is the B.C. Pay Transparency Act, and do I really have to do this by Sunday?
B.C. passed the Pay Transparency Act in 2023. One part of it requires larger employers to publish a yearly report on whether there's a pay gap between men, women, non-binary employees, and people who'd rather not say.
It's been rolling out in stages. Government and the big Crown corporations went first in 2023. Then came employers with 1,000+ employees in 2024, and 300+ in 2025. This year, it reached 50+ employees, bringing in many businesses for the first time. If this is the first you've heard of it, you're not alone.
Does this apply to me?
It does if:
You had 50 or more employees in B.C. as of January 1, 2026.
Your count includes remote employees based in B.C., not just people in your office.
If you're federally regulated (think banks, airlines, telecoms), different rules may apply. Check before you do anything.
What happens if I miss it?
There's currently no fine, and the Act doesn't include penalties for missing the deadline. However, there are still good reasons to get it done:
It's public: The whole point of the report is that people can see it. Employees and job candidates can tell when it's missing.
Employees can report you: The province has a Director of Pay Transparency whose job includes receiving complaints about employers who don't comply. Every year the government publishes how many complaints came in.
It's still the law: The Act is due for a review within five years, and a law without penalties today won't necessarily stay that way.
What goes in the report?
Your business name, mailing address, and NAICS code (your industry classification)
The reporting period: your most recent complete 12-month calendar or fiscal year
Your employee count range (50–299, 300–999, or 1,000+)
Pay gaps by gender (Man, Woman, Non-binary, and Unknown or Prefer not to answer), covering hourly pay, overtime, and bonuses, using means and medians
Hide any group with fewer than 10 people to protect privacy, so small teams won't expose anyone's pay.
What you need to do this weekend (before Nov. 1st, 2026)
Employee Count: Count all B.C.-based employees—including full-time, part-time, and remote staff—as of January 1, 2026.
System Access: Register for a Business BCeID immediately, as it is required to log into the government portal, and deadlines will not be extended for registration delays.
Payroll Export: Gather comprehensive data for the reporting period, including hours worked, regular pay, special salary, overtime hours/pay, and bonuses.
Gender Data: Use existing employee-provided gender information. Classify missing data as "Unknown or prefer not to answer" without guessing.
Submission: Complete the report in a single session via the government tool, as the system does not save drafts.
Public Posting: Publish the final report on your public-facing website (not an internal intranet) or display it physically in the workplace if you don't have a website.
Corrections: Utilize the 30-day window to make edits or corrections after finalizing the report.
Already run payroll with PaymentEvolution? You can access the data you need easily:
Year-to-date totals for everyone: Log in to your dashboard and go to Reports > Yearly > Year to Date Journal > Create New Report, set the year to match your reporting period, and download it. If you report on the calendar year, that's 2025. If your fiscal year ended in 2026, pull both years so you cover the full 12 months.
Pay broken down by earning type (regular, overtime, bonus): go to Reports > Employee HX > Pay Explorer and switch the report type to Custom. Uncheck everything, select the earnings you need, then export to Excel or PDF.
These exports give you the raw numbers, not the finished report. To turn them into one, you'll still need to import it into the government tool, unless you work out the calculations yourself.
And next year: you have to give employees a chance to share or update their gender information every year. Build that into onboarding and an annual check-in so next November is easier.
For accountants
Two important things to note: First, it happens every year. Every November 1, any client with 50+ B.C. employees must publish a new report. Second, it won’t be the last compliance requirement that runs on payroll data. New rules keep coming, and your clients will bring each one to you first, because plenty of business owners would gladly hand that headache to someone they already trust.
Keeping up with every new rule, for every client, can be difficult to manage. That’s why we’re building EVOLV with accounting firms in mind: to help you take on work like this and offer more proactive services at scale. Your clients get one less thing to worry about, and you become their strategic advisor.
FAQ
Do I have to use the government's tool?
No, you can prepare the report another way, as long as it includes everything the regulation requires.
I never asked employees about gender. Am I stuck?
No, anyone who hasn't shared it goes in the "Unknown or prefer not to answer" category. From now on, you have to give employees the chance to share or update it every year.
Does my report automatically go to the government?
No. You post it publicly and keep it up until next year's report replaces it.
Do I have to do this every year?
Yes, every November 1, as long as you had 50+ employees in B.C. on January 1 of that year. Each report covers your most recent full year. You also have to give employees a chance to update their gender information once a year.
What data do I need to get my report done accurately?
For each employee, covering your last full year (January to December 2025 for most businesses): hours worked, regular pay, overtime hours and pay, bonuses, any special salary, and gender if they've shared it. Hours worked are usually the hardest to pull, especially if they're on paper timesheets. If you run payroll with PaymentEvolution, most of this is already in your Year-to-Date Journal (see the steps above).
I'm an accountant. Can I do this for my clients?
Yes. Nothing says the employer has to prepare it personally. It just has to be posted under their name. More on that below.
Canada's most loved payroll, HR, and benefits
Trusted by thousands of businesses, PaymentEvolution is Canada's largest and most loved cloud payroll, HR, and benefits management service. Accountants, bookkeepers, and financial institutions in Canada rely on us for payroll expertise and payroll services for their clientele. See why over 20,000 businesses trust us every day.
[Get started with PaymentEvolution →]
This article is general information, not legal advice. If you're unsure whether the Act applies to you, check the province's guidance or talk to your accountant.
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no credit card required.
See why 20,000+ businesses trust PayEvo to handle their payroll, benefits management, and HR solutions every day.
No spam. Opt-out or cancel anytime.
