How does pay equity shape the future of Canada’s child care workforce? In Episode 4 of Fairly Equal: Lawyering the Feminist Revolution, two of Canada’s leading experts—Constance Backhouse and Mary Cornish—explore the history of pay equity, why it remains a critical issue for the child care sector, and the ongoing challenges of ensuring fair compensation for a predominantly female workforce.

Constance Backhouse, Distinguished University Professor and University Research Chair at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, is one of Canada’s foremost legal historians and a leading scholar in human rights, feminist legal issues, and legal history. She has also co-founded the Feminist History Society, dedicated to preserving and publishing the history of Second Wave feminism in Canada.

Joining her is Mary Cornish, a nationally recognized human rights and labour lawyer with more than 40 years of experience advancing workplace equality. As founder of the Equal Pay Coalition, she has played a transformative role in promoting pay equity for women, including advocating for fair compensation for child care workers.

Together, they provide valuable historical context and practical insights into how pay equity continues to influence workforce recruitment, retention, and sustainable funding in early learning and child care today.

The Fairly Equal podcast series is produced by Linda Silver Dranoff, C.M., O. Ont., LSM—an award-winning lawyer, author, and lifelong advocate for women’s equality. Throughout her distinguished career, Dranoff has helped shape Canadian law through landmark legal work, influential writing, and decades of advocacy on gender equality and social justice. She is the author of Fairly Equal: Lawyering the Feminist Revolution, on which the podcast series is based, and is a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario in recognition of her contributions.