New labour rules from October 2026: how part-time, temporary and agency workers can ask for equal pay, starting with whether federal or B.C. rules cover you

1. What changed, from when, and who it affects

Where the October 20 rule comes from. It is actually a change that was written into the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2, but had never taken effect. On April 23, 2026, the federal government made an order bringing it into force (SI/2026-18, published in the Canada Gazette on May 6). The order set the effective date as the 180th day after it was made, which works out to October 20. The accompanying regulations (SOR/2026-75) took effect on the same day. They define terms such as "full-time," "part-time" and "the same industrial establishment."

2. First, work out whether your job is covered by federal or B.C. rules

What "federally regulated" means. Canada has two sets of laws on workplace rules. One is the federal Canada Labour Code, which covers only a few "federally regulated industries." The other is each province's own law; B.C.'s is the Employment Standards Act, which covers the great majority of other jobs. Minimum wage, overtime pay, leave and where to complain each have their own rules under the two sets. Which set covers you depends on what business your employer is in. It does not depend on your status (citizen, permanent resident, work permit or study permit holder, it is all the same), or on how big the company is or whether it is a national chain.

The federally regulated industries listed on the federal website (private sector):

• Air transportation: airlines, airports and aircraft operations;
• Banks, including foreign banks authorized to do business in Canada;
• Grain handling, such as grain storage and feed and seed processing;
• First Nations band councils and Indigenous self-governments (some activities);
• Most federal Crown corporations, such as Canada Post;
• Port services, marine shipping, ferries, tunnels, canals, bridges and oil and gas pipelines that cross provincial or international borders;
• Postal and courier services;
• Radio and television broadcasting;
• Railways that cross provincial or international borders, and some short-line railways;
• Road transportation that crosses provincial or international borders, including trucks and buses;
• Telecommunications: telephone, Internet and cable;
• Uranium mining and atomic energy;
• Businesses that are essential to the operation of the industries above.

Employees of the federal government itself are not covered by Part III of the Canada Labour Code (the part on pay, hours and leave). They have a separate system, which this guide does not cover.

Some examples in Victoria:

Two reminders. First, the list says "banks"; it does not mention credit unions. If you work at a credit union, call and ask which rules cover you. Second, the list includes "postal and courier services," but B.C. has a separate minimum wage for people who take food delivery and other delivery jobs through phone apps, which shows that this kind of work is covered by B.C. Which rules cover a small local courier company also cannot be decided in general; if you are not sure, call and ask.

On the same street, the rules can be different: a bank teller is covered by the federal rules, while a clerk at the coffee shop next door is covered by the B.C. rules.

If you are not sure. Some cases are hard to judge, such as a store inside an airport, a telecommunications company's dealer store, or the place an agency sends you to work. Do not guess. Call and ask:

• Federal Labour Program: 1-800-641-4049. The federal complaints page says that before you complain, you can check the list of federally regulated industries, or call this number to ask.
• B.C. Employment Standards Branch: 1-833-236-3700, Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Pacific time), with service in the language of your choice. For simple questions you can text 604-660-2421 (do not include personal information such as your date of birth in the text). The Employment Standards Branch cannot give legal advice, and cannot tell you what you should do or whether your situation complies, but it can explain what B.C.'s employment standards say and how its services work.

You can ask like this: "I work as a [job] at [company]. Am I covered by federal labour standards or by B.C. employment standards?"

Agency workers need to ask one more question. If an agency placed you at a client company, which rules cover you depends first on who your real employer is, and then on what business that employer is in. The federal Labour Program says the federal agency rules apply only when your real employer is the temporary help agency and the agency itself is federally regulated. A client that is a bank or an airline does not mean the agency is federally regulated.

If you have a union. In unionized workplaces, many things are set out in the collective agreement, so ask your union representative first. The B.C. Employment Standards Branch also says that unionized workplaces and federally regulated industries are not covered by its complaint process.

Related: if B.C. rules cover you, for minimum wage, pay, overtime and unpaid wage complaints, see No. 13 · Rights at work. If you have just arrived in Canada and do not yet have a Social Insurance Number (SIN), start with No. 2 · First 90 days.

3. New federal rule 1: part-time and temporary employees cannot be paid less just because of their status

This section applies only to federally regulated employees. It is based on the new sections 182.1 to 182.4 of the Canada Labour Code.

What "employment status" means. Under the regulations, employment status is one of four things: full-time, part-time, permanent or temporary.

• Full-time: if your collective agreement or employment contract says you are full-time, you are full-time. If neither says, look at the company policy your employer has told you about. If there is no policy either, look at your hours: if you normally work 30 or more hours a week (or, under an averaging arrangement, an average of 30 or more hours a week over the schedule), you are full-time.
• Part-time: anyone who is not full-time is part-time.
• Permanent: your contract is for an indefinite term, that is, it does not say when it ends.
• Temporary: your contract is for a fixed term (with an end date), seasonal, casual or irregular.

What is compared is the "rate of wages," not total earnings. The new rules compare how much you are paid per hour, per kilometre or per item, not how much you get in a week or a month. For example, if one person works 20 hours a week and another works 40 hours a week, their weekly pay will of course be different; what you compare is how much each of them is paid per hour.

Pay can be compared only when all five conditions are met:

Which differences are allowed. A difference in pay does not break the rules if it comes from one of the following "systems":

• A seniority system (based on length of service);
• A merit system (based on an objective assessment of performance);
• A system based on the quantity or quality of production.

The regulations add the following four:

• After you are moved to a lower-paid position, you keep your previous higher pay until the pay for the new position rises above that amount;
• During a shortage of skilled workers, pay is increased to recruit or keep people with certain skills;
• Pay is set by work location (or by the work location while travelling);
• People in travel status and people not in travel status are paid differently.

But such a system must meet two conditions: first, it must apply in the same way to all employees who can be compared; second, its content must be given to employees in writing, or kept where employees can see it at any time. The federal Labour Program gives an example: an employer said it had a seniority pay system, but the investigation found the system was set up only after the employee complained and had never been told to employees, so it did not count, and the employer was still in violation.

Employers cannot "level down." If pay is found to differ, the employer can only raise the pay of the person who is paid less. It cannot lower the pay of the person who is paid more.

Internal job postings must also go to part-time and temporary employees. Section 182.3 says that if an employer normally tells employees in writing (for example by email or a posted notice) about vacant positions or promotion opportunities, it must tell all employees, whether full-time, part-time, permanent or temporary. For example, if a branch sends internal job competitions by email, part-time tellers must receive them too.

Interns. The federal Labour Program says that "employees" here also includes interns, but student interns are not covered by the equal pay rules.

An example. Two bank tellers work at the same branch in Victoria, on the same shift, with the same duties and authority. One is full-time and is paid $26 an hour; the other is paid $23 an hour, only because that teller is part-time. If none of the allowed systems described above applies, the employer must raise the part-time teller to $26, and cannot lower the full-time teller to $23. But if the two started at different times, and the difference comes from a seniority pay scale that applies in the same way to all tellers and that employees can see, the answer may be different. (This example is made up to explain the rule; the numbers are not any bank's real wages.)

4. How to ask for a review: write a letter, wait up to 90 days, get the difference paid

Step one: keep your records. Pay stubs, schedules, your own job description, what the coworker you are comparing yourself with actually does (be as specific as you can), and whether the company has published a pay scale. If you have a union, ask your union representative as early as possible; your collective agreement may have its own grievance process and deadlines.

Step two: ask your employer for a review in writing. The law says "a request in writing," so use email or a letter, not just a conversation. After receiving it, your employer must complete the review within 90 days and reply to you in writing. The reply can only be one of two things:

• telling you that your pay has been raised so that it complies with the rules; or
• telling you that your current pay complies with the rules, and giving the reasons.

Agency workers send their request for a review to the temporary help agency that employs them; the agency's reply must either say your pay has been raised, or say it has not been raised and give the reasons.

Step three: if your pay is raised, from when the difference is paid. If your employer raises your pay to comply with the rules, it must pay you the difference from the day you made your written request up to the day it starts paying you at the new rate. So the sooner you write, the more you can get back.

An English letter you can use (fill in your own details in the square brackets):

Agency workers change "section 182.2" to "section 203.3" and send it to the temporary help agency. After sending it, save the email and the date it was sent; if you mail a letter, keep proof of mailing.

Can your employer punish you for asking for a review? The law clearly prohibits it: your employer cannot dismiss, suspend, lay off, demote or discipline you because you asked for a review, and cannot take it into account when deciding who gets a promotion or training. A temporary help agency also cannot stop giving you assignments because of it. If it does happen, see the reprisal complaint in section 6.

What records employers must keep. The regulations require employers to keep: records of the system used to explain differences in pay; employees' written requests for a review and the employer's written replies; and temporary help agencies must also record which clients each employee was assigned to and the start and end dates of each assignment. These records must be kept for at least three years (36 months) after the work is done.

5. New federal rule 2: pay and fees for agency workers (temporary help agencies)

How the agency relationship works. There are three parties: you; the agency that hires you and assigns you to work (a temporary help agency, also called a temp agency or staffing agency); and the client company that actually directs your work. The new rules are the new sections 203.01 to 203.5 of the Canada Labour Code. They apply to temporary help agencies that are federally regulated themselves and are your real employer, and to the employees they assign to work for clients.

You can compare your pay with the client company's own employees. For example, if an agency assigns you to process freight documents at a client company, and the client's own employees do the same work and are also paid by the hour, then even though your pay stub shows the agency's name, you can compare your hourly rate with the client's employees using the five conditions in section 3. The allowed differences depend on the client company's pay system: that system must apply in the same way to all comparable employees, and must have been given to you in writing, or be easy for you to find. The client company also cannot lower its own employees' pay to help the agency comply.

Money the agency cannot charge you:

• a fee for becoming its employee;
• a fee for assigning you work, or for trying to get you an assignment;
• a fee for preparing you for work, such as revising your résumé or getting you ready for interviews;
• a "conversion fee" when the client hires you directly.

It does not matter whether the fee is charged once, as a lump sum, or as a percentage deducted from each paycheque: all of these count, and none are allowed. If you have already paid, the agency must pay you back the same amount. To get this money back, you can make a "monetary complaint" to the federal Labour Program. But the government says that at the time you paid, you and the agency must already have had an employment relationship; only current or former employees of that federally regulated agency can use this complaint.

When the client wants to hire you directly. The agency cannot stop you from accepting a job with the client. For the fee the agency charges the client company (not you) for hiring you, there is a timeline: if six months or less have passed from the day you first started working at that client on assignment to the day the client hires you, this federal ban does not apply; if more than six months have passed, the agency cannot charge the client this fee.

An example. You are first assigned to a client on November 2, 2026, and four months later the client wants to hire you directly. A fee the agency charges the client is outside this ban; but the agency cannot make you pay a "conversion fee" yourself, and cannot stop you from going. Keep the notice of your first assignment, the client's offer letter and the receipts for every fee you paid.

If your temporary help agency is regulated by B.C. The federal rules do not apply, but B.C.'s Employment Standards Act has its own rules: no one may directly or indirectly charge a person looking for work a fee for hiring them, for helping them find work, or for providing information about jobs (section 10); money charged in violation is treated as unpaid wages and can be recovered under the Employment Standards Act. B.C. also requires employment agencies to hold a B.C. licence to operate (section 12), and the B.C. government website has a list of licensed agencies. Check it before you use an agency.

Related: for how to complain about unpaid wages in B.C. and what documents to prepare, see No. 13 · Rights at work.

6. Where to complain, and the time limits

On the federal side, there are two ways to complain about a difference in pay:

The law also says the time limit can be extended in some cases, for example if you complained within the time limit but to the wrong place (a body that had no authority over it). Whether it can be extended, call and ask; do not wait for an extension, and complain within the original time limit.

How much you can recover. If the labour authorities order your employer to pay, the pay difference can be counted only from the earlier of two dates: the day you complained, or the day you wrote to ask for a review. So the date of your letter decides how much you can recover, and the sooner you leave a dated written record, the better.

How to file a federal complaint.

1. First confirm that federal rules cover you (section 2); if you are not sure, call 1-800-641-4049.
2. Download the complaint form from the Service Canada website and fill it in. To get back fees an agency charged in violation, the government says to make a "monetary complaint" using the Monetary complaint form (form LAB1189); for issues that do not involve money, use the Non-Monetary complaint form (form LAB1188). The government does not say which form to use for a pay difference under the equal pay rules; call 1-800-641-4049 first to ask.
3. Sign it and send it with your documents by email to NA-ERO-GD@labour-travail.gc.ca, or mail it to the nearest Labour Program office. The government reminds you not to miss the time limit while waiting for documents; you can send documents later.
4. For monetary and non-monetary complaints, you can ask that your employer not be told during the investigation that you are the one who complained, but the government says this may slow things down, and in some cases your identity cannot be kept confidential.
5. After you file, you will receive a confirmation letter. When the labour authorities write to ask you for more documents or to answer questions, be sure to reply on time; if you do not reply, it will be treated as giving up your complaint.

If you face reprisal, go to the Canada Industrial Relations Board. If your employer dismisses, suspends, lays off, demotes, fines or disciplines you because you asked for a review, made a complaint or asserted your legal rights, that is called a "reprisal." Reprisal complaints do not go to the Labour Program; they go to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), and must be made within 90 calendar days after you knew (or ought reasonably to have known) about the reprisal. The Board recommends using its reprisal complaint form and filing through its E-filing Web Portal. Explain three things clearly: what your employer did to you, what caused it, and how the two are connected. The Board does not assign lawyers to the parties; you can handle it yourself or have someone represent you. If you have a union, you can ask the union for help first.

If you have a union agreement, there is a two-year transition period. If a collective agreement already in force on October 20, 2026 has terms that set different pay by employment status and that conflict with the new rules, the conflicting part can continue to apply, until October 20, 2028 at the latest (two years after the new rules took effect). The same applies to collective agreements for agency employees. The transition period covers only those conflicting pay terms.

On the B.C. side. If B.C. rules cover you, complain to the B.C. Employment Standards Branch about unpaid wages, overtime pay, vacation and similar issues. It is free, and the online form takes about 15 minutes to fill in. If you still work for the same employer, the Branch looks at problems in the one year before the date of your complaint; if you no longer work there, you must complain within 6 months after your last day of work (or the last day of a temporary layoff). You can ask that your identity be kept confidential from your employer. Pay transparency issues are not handled by the Employment Standards Branch; if you have questions, email PayTransparency@gov.bc.ca.

Related: for how to prepare before you call a government line and what to do if you cannot get through, see No. 7 · Phone directory; for the documents and steps for a B.C. unpaid wage complaint, see No. 13 · Rights at work.

If you want help from a lawyer or a union. The CIRB says it does not provide lawyers. If you want to hire a lawyer, you can use the Lawyer Directory on the Law Society of British Columbia website to search by last name and check whether a lawyer is licensed to practise in B.C. and whether they have any discipline history; the Law Society itself does not recommend lawyers. If you do not have a union and cannot afford a lawyer, you can first call the official numbers above to ask about the rules that apply and how to proceed.

7. Protections federally regulated employees already had (not changed this time, but worth knowing)

The rules below have long been in the Canada Labour Code and apply to employees in federally regulated industries. Some jobs and industries have exemptions or special rules, and union agreements may provide otherwise; your own situation is what counts.

Schedules must be given in advance.

• Your employer must give you your schedule in writing at least 96 hours (4 days) in advance, including on-call and standby shifts, unless your collective agreement provides otherwise.
• You can refuse a shift you were not told about at least 96 hours in advance (that is, a shift that starts less than 96 hours after you are given the schedule). Exception: emergencies your employer could not reasonably foresee that involve a threat to someone's safety, damage to property or a serious disruption of normal operations.
• To add a shift or change a shift, your employer must give you at least 24 hours' notice in writing (on-call and standby periods count too), with the same exception for emergencies.

Breaks.

• For every 5 consecutive hours of work, you get an unpaid break of at least 30 minutes; if your employer requires you to be available during the break, that time must be paid.
• Between two shifts, you get at least 8 consecutive hours of rest.
• You get at least one full day of rest each week, usually Sunday.

Hours of work and overtime.

• Standard hours are 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week; anything beyond that is overtime. Overtime pay is at least 1.5 times your regular rate, or, if agreed in writing, paid time off at 1.5 times.
• You can refuse overtime to care for the health or care needs of a family member, or to look after the schooling of a family member under 18, if you have first tried other options and they did not work. Exception: in emergencies your employer could not reasonably foresee that involve a threat to someone's safety, damage to property or a serious disruption of normal operations, you cannot refuse.

Sick leave and personal leave.

• Paid sick leave: after 30 days of continuous employment, you first get 3 days of paid sick leave; after that, each time you complete another month of work, you get 1 more day at the start of the next month, up to 10 days a year. Unused days carry over to the next year, but the total cannot exceed 10 days. If your sick leave lasts 5 days or more in a row, your employer can ask you to provide a certificate from a health care practitioner within 15 days after you return to work.
• Personal leave: up to 5 days per calendar year, to care for the health of a family member, deal with the schooling of a family member under 18, handle an urgent matter, attend your citizenship ceremony, and so on. If you have worked for the same employer continuously for 3 months, the first 3 days are paid.

Minimum wage. The federal minimum wage has been $18.15 an hour since April 1, 2026, and is adjusted for inflation every April 1. If the minimum wage in the province where you work is higher, federally regulated employers must pay the higher one. B.C.'s general minimum wage has been $18.25 an hour since June 1, 2026, which is higher than the federal rate, so federally regulated employees who work in B.C., such as bank tellers and airport ground crew, must be paid at least $18.25.

8. On the B.C. side: employers with 50 or more employees must complete pay transparency reports by November 1

This section is about B.C.'s Pay Transparency Act, which covers employers regulated by B.C. The B.C. government website notes that the requirements for federally regulated employers may be different.

Who must prepare a report. Employers that had 50 or more employees in B.C. on January 1, 2026 (everyone working in B.C. counts, including remote workers) must complete an annual pay transparency report on or before November 1, 2026. This has been phased in over several years: in 2023, the B.C. government and the six largest provincial Crown corporations, such as BC Hydro, ICBC, BC Transit and WorkSafeBC; in 2024, employers with 1,000 or more employees; in 2025, 300 or more; and in 2026, it is the turn of employers with 50 or more.

Where the report is posted. Once it is done, it must be posted as soon as possible on the company's public website. If there is no public website, a copy must be posted in a prominent place at each workplace, and given to members of the public who ask for it. The previous report must stay available until the new one is out.

What is in the report. Mainly the pay gaps between genders, including average and median hourly wages, overtime pay, overtime hours, bonuses and so on. The report shows how much men and women are paid differently across the whole company; but to tell whether you yourself are paid less, you still need to compare your own pay stubs, your job and the company's pay system.

Three protections this law gives employees and job applicants covered by B.C. rules (whatever the size of the company):

• Job postings must show pay: publicly advertised job postings must state the expected pay or pay range (since November 1, 2023).
• No asking about your past pay: employers cannot ask job applicants (directly or through someone else) about their past pay, unless that information is already public.
• No reprisal for asking about pay: your employer cannot dismiss, suspend, demote, discipline or harass you because you asked your employer about your pay, told a coworker or job applicant your pay, or asked about the company's pay transparency report.

If you have questions, email PayTransparency@gov.bc.ca.

9. Changes in other provinces on October 1 (for family and friends in other provinces)

Below are the general minimum wages in several provinces from October 1, 2026 (per hour, in Canadian dollars). They apply only to people who work in that province and are paid the general minimum wage; students, special jobs and others may have different rates, so check with that provincial government.

Ontario also requires that if a pay period spans the date of a wage increase, the period be split at that date into two parts, with the minimum wage worked out at the old rate and the new rate respectively (section 23.0.1 of Ontario's Employment Standards Act).

We were not able to read the original on the Prince Edward Island government website, so we cannot say whether its minimum wage changed this time or by how much. This guide gives no figures; please check the provincial government website.

Quebec: a regulation on prevention and worker participation in the workplace took effect on October 1, 2025. It gives employers one year from the date they become required to have a prevention program or action plan to prepare it and put it into practice. So for workplaces that were required to do so from the day it took effect, the deadline was October 1, 2026. This matters only to people who work in Quebec.

10. Bill C-39, still before Parliament: not law yet

Bill C-39's short title is the Building Canada Strong Act. It is a very large omnibus bill, and labour is only one part of it. It had first reading in the House of Commons on September 21, 2026, and on October 8 it passed second reading and was sent to committee. As of November 3, 2026, the Parliament of Canada website shows it is still being studied by a House of Commons committee, and the Senate is also conducting a pre-study of the bill. It has not passed, and everything below is a proposal, not current law.

In the federal government's explanation of the bill, the main labour-related items are these:

• Earlier bargaining: where the last round of bargaining ended in a strike, a lockout or compulsory arbitration, or where more than five years have passed since the last collective agreement, bargaining must start six months before the collective agreement expires, with help from a federal mediator.
• Longer conciliation period: the legal conciliation period would be extended from 60 days to 90 days.
• Labour disputes with major national impact: first a special mediator must be appointed, the mediator must give a public report, and the Minister of Labour must have reviewed the report and consider that a strike or lockout would cause serious harm to the country as a whole; only when these conditions are met, and after the work stoppage has begun, could the Minister direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order operations to resume, extend the existing collective agreement temporarily, or resolve the dispute by binding means (such as arbitration).
• How paid sick leave fits in: where a collective agreement (union agreement) already provides equal or better paid sick leave, the legal 10 days of paid sick leave is a "minimum standard," not added on top; employees' right to up to 10 days of paid sick leave does not change.

To see how far it has got, check the C-39 progress page on the Parliament of Canada website. The equal pay and agency worker protections that took effect on October 20 rely on a separate order that has already been published, and have nothing to do with C-39.

11. Checklist before you act

• First confirm which rules cover you: if you work in a federally regulated industry such as a bank, an airline, Canada Post, a telecommunications company or interprovincial transportation, read sections 3 to 7 of this guide; if you work at a restaurant, a store, a cleaning company or most offices, look at B.C.'s rules (No. 13). If you are not sure, call the federal line 1-800-641-4049 or the B.C. line 1-833-236-3700 to ask.
• Gather your pay stubs, schedules and job description, and the specifics of how your work compares with your coworker's.
• If you think you are paid less because you are part-time, temporary or an agency worker: send an email asking for a review, and save the email and the date. Your employer must reply in writing within 90 days.
• Once you receive the reply or 90 days have passed, complain to the federal Labour Program within 6 months; if you complain directly without writing first, within 6 months from the day you knew.
• Agency workers: the agency cannot charge you a hiring fee, an assignment fee, a résumé or interview fee or a conversion fee, and you can get back fees you paid; if the client wants to hire you, the agency cannot stop you.
• If you face reprisal: complain to the Canada Industrial Relations Board within 90 calendar days after you knew about it.
• If you have a union: ask your union representative first about the transition period and grievance deadlines in your collective agreement.
• If you work for a B.C. employer with 50 or more employees: from November 1, you can look for its pay transparency report on its website (or posted at the workplace if it has no website).

Related guides

• → No. 13 · Rights at work
  If B.C. rules cover you: how minimum wage, pay and overtime work, and how to complain to the B.C. Employment Standards Branch about unpaid wages and what documents to prepare.
• → No. 2 · First 90 days
  Just arrived in Canada and do not have a Social Insurance Number (SIN) yet? Start with the order this guide gives.
• → No. 7 · Phone directory
  How to prepare before you call a government line, and what to do if you cannot get through.

Main official links in this guide

These are the official pages used most in this guide. The facts in this guide were all checked against official web pages or legal texts on November 3, 2026; where something could not be verified (the minimum wage in Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan's rate before the change, and which complaint form to use for an equal pay difference), the guide says so. The consolidated Canada Labour Code on the Justice Laws website is current to October 19, 2026, so the new sections that took effect on October 20 are still listed under "Amendments Not in Force" at the end; they were brought into force by order SI/2026-18. The two phone numbers used in this guide: federal Labour Program 1-800-641-4049; B.C. Employment Standards Branch 1-833-236-3700 (Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Pacific time). Other links are at the end of each section.