The gender wage
gap remains a pertinent issue in Canada, despite how long women have
been lending their labour to the workforce. And we often hear statistics
that contrast two categories: men and women. On this, the numbers are
stark.

But that data doesn’t incorporate filters around identity and
background of women, an omission that effectively erases the compounding
discrimination faced by non-white women in Canada. A lens that compares
only men and women sets up women’s rights as a replica of patriarchy,
where one group is favoured over everyone else; in doing so it
reinforces the rigid power structures that have brought us to this
point. But including race in the analysis reveals a different kind of
gender gap that’s perhaps even more alarming than the broader issue.