Starting November 1, 2026, British Columbia’s pay transparency reporting requirements will expand to provincially regulated employers with 50 or more employees working in B.C. If your organization does not have a dedicated HR manager, now is the time to understand what is required and start preparing.

What changed on November 1, 2026?

B.C.’s Pay Transparency Act introduced annual pay transparency reporting in stages, based on employer size. The reporting requirements have expanded as follows:

  • November 1, 2024: Employers with 1,000 or more employees in B.C.
  • November 1, 2025: Employers with 300 or more employees in B.C.
  • November 1, 2026: Employers with 50 or more employees in B.C.

Employers must use the number of employees working in B.C. as of January 1 of the reporting year to determine whether they are required to report. This includes B.C.-based employees working remotely.

Official resource: B.C. government guidance for preparing pay transparency reports.

What is a pay transparency report?

A pay transparency report provides information about an employer’s workforce and pay, helping identify differences in compensation between gender groups. The report includes employer details, the reporting period, employee information and calculations of pay gaps. The required employee data includes:

  • Gender classification
  • Hours worked
  • Ordinary pay
  • Special salary
  • Overtime hours
  • Overtime pay
  • Bonus pay

The reporting period covers 12 months. Employers can choose the most recently completed calendar year or fiscal year, subject to the government’s instructions.

The rules for classifying different types of compensation matter. For example, statutory holiday pay, vacation payouts and retroactive payments may need to be treated differently depending on the circumstances. Employers should consult the official guidance rather than assume that every payroll earning code fits neatly into one category.

How do you prepare a pay transparency report?

If you are responsible for HR, payroll or operations in a small or medium-sized business, the process can feel like another administrative task added to an already full workload. Breaking it into steps can make it more manageable.

1. Confirm whether your organization must report

Check your number of employees working in B.C. as of January 1, 2026, and confirm whether your organization is provincially regulated. If you are unsure how the requirements apply to your organization, consult the government’s guidance or contact its Pay Transparency Unit.

2. Gather the required employee and payroll information

You will need the relevant gender and compensation information for employees paid during your chosen 12-month reporting period. The government’s guidance explains how to classify pay, hours worked and other compensation. Because the categories are specific, it is worth reviewing the guidance before extracting and organizing your payroll data.

3. Prepare the required CSV file

The B.C. government provides a sample CSV template for the employee information needed by its reporting tool. Your payroll software may not export information in precisely that format, so you may need to reorganize or convert the data. Pay particular attention to how payroll codes are mapped to the government’s categories. Incorrect classification can affect the calculations in the resulting report.

4. Use the government’s reporting tool

The B.C. Pay Transparency Reporting Tool allows employers to upload a CSV, review validation errors, generate a draft and create a final report. The tool requires a Business BCeID login. Review the draft carefully before finalizing it, and correct any errors in the underlying data.

5. Publish the report

Generating a report is not the final step. Employers must make the final report publicly accessible on their website. If the organization does not have a website, the legislation provides an alternative involving a visible workplace posting and making the report available upon request. The report must remain accessible until the next year’s report is posted.

Official reporting tool: B.C. Pay Transparency Reporting Tool.

Government guidance and sample CSV: Preparing pay transparency reports.

What if your payroll system cannot produce the required file?

Some employers may discover that their payroll software exports a payroll register but does not provide the exact CSV structure required by the government’s tool.

That does not automatically mean you need to purchase another product. Start by downloading the official sample CSV, comparing it with your existing payroll export and identifying which fields need to be reorganized.

If you consider using a third-party conversion tool, check how it handles sensitive payroll information, how it maps compensation codes and whether you can verify the output against the government’s instructions. A tool that produces a file in the right format still needs to classify the underlying information correctly.

Where can employers find reliable information?

For questions about the reporting requirements, the B.C. government lists PayTransparency@gov.bc.ca as its contact.

Don’t leave HR compliance until the last minute

For businesses without a dedicated HR team, employment requirements can be easy to miss while managing payroll, recruitment, employee relations and day-to-day operations.

While the November 1, 2026 deadline has passed, use the official guidance to determine whether your organization needs to report, identify the information you need and allow time to review the results before publishing.

Need support navigating HR requirements? Vertical Bridge HR helps organizations build practical, effective HR processes and stay informed about workplace obligations. If you are unsure where to start, our team can help you identify the questions to ask and the next steps to consider.

Disclaimer: This article is for general information and is not legal advice. Employers should review the current legislation and official government guidance to determine how the requirements apply to their organization.