New Democrats are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make good on his commitment to advance gender equality by tabling pay equity legislation before the end of this year, instead of waiting up to 18 months as recommended by a new report tabled in the Commons today.

The report titled "It's Time to Act," makes 31 recommendations. It was drafted by a special committee tasked by the Commons to study why men are making more than women for work of equal value.

"I do believe that the prime minister has been clear that he is a feminist," said NDP MP Sheri Benson, co-chair of the special committee on pay equity, during a news conference on Parliament Hill Thursday.

"I feel that this is an important opportunity, that we could step up right away and put some walk behind that talk"

"If we wait 18 months, we could be at the end of this Parliament again and not have legislation to protect women's human right to equal pay for work of equal value," Benson said.

The special committee heard that Statistics Canada's 2015 Labour Force Survey showed that women in Canada earned 82 cents for every dollar earned by men, while women in federally regulated jobs earned 87 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, attends a session on gender parity, in Davos, Switzerland in January with Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook. He is being urged to table new pay equity legislation by the end of 2016. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

The report's first recommendation calls on the government to repeal the controversial Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act passed under the previous Conservative government.

The committee heard that the complaints-based system "has resulted in lengthy, costly and contentious disputes between employers and bargaining agents."

"The committee was reminded of well-known pay equity disputes involving the federal government, Canada Post, Air Canada and Bell Canada, several of which ultimately went to the Supreme Court of Canada for resolution," the report said.

Status of Women Minister Patricia Hajdu would not commit today to repealing the controversial legislation within 18 months, saying she looked forward to reading and reviewing the report.

"The gender wage gap is complex and that equal pay for equal value is something that we completely believe in, but we know that it's not the silver bullet to addressing the gender wage gap. There are a lot of other factors that go into addressing that," Hajdu said prior to question period on Thursday.

The report also recommends that the federal government accept the 2004 Federal Pay Equity Task Force report and that any new proactive pay equity legislation be reviewed by Parliament every five years after a three-year implementation period.

Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld, chair of the 10-member special committee, said in a post on Twitter that she was proud of the all-party committee for its "collaboration on [a] substantive report."

Proud to table the Report of the Special House of Commons Committee on Pay Equity: <a href="https://t.co/qWdQ8MttV5">https://t.co/qWdQ8MttV5</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/payequity?src=hash">#payequity</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cdnpoli?src=hash">#cdnpoli</a> —@anitavandenbeld

At 10am I will be tabling the report of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HoC?src=hash">#HoC</a> special committee on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PayEquity?src=hash">#PayEquity</a>, proud of committee for collaboration on substantive report —@anitavandenbeld

Conservative MP Dan Albas, one of three male MPs on the committee, echoed Vandenbeld's remarks adding that, he hoped the government would find the committee's work "helpful."

As the Committee on Pay Equity has tabled its report, it's now dissolved. Was a pleasure to collaborate on &hope Govt finds its work helpful —@DanAlbas

The special committee was made up of six Liberals, three Conservatives, and one New Democrat.

The MPs heard from 50 witnesses, including three federal departments and agencies, over a three-month period between March and June.

Trudeau appointed Canada's first gender-balanced cabinet.

He was lauded at the United Nations earlier this year as "an agent of change" for pushing gender equality and urging other men to do the same.