New CBCA diversity disclosure requirements confirmed
Jul 22, 2019
On July 22, 2019, Norton Rose Fullbright LLP released a summary of the regulations supporting the amendments to the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) related to diversity disclosure. The amendments will require publicly-listed CBCA corporations to provide certain information on board and executive officer diversity policies and statistics beginning in 2020.
Although the CBCA was amended on May 1, 2018 to require publicly-listed CBCA corporations to include diversity disclosure in their annual shareholder meeting notice or proxy circular, the amendments were not brought into force until the regulations supporting the changes could be finalized. These regulations have now been published and come into force on January 1, 2020. Accordingly, the following requirements apply for the 2020 shareholder meetings of publicly-listed CBCA corporations. Of particular note, the amendments expand the existing Canadian securities law requirements on diversity disclosure to broaden the meaning of diversity beyond gender and to apply to all CBCA reporting issuers, including issuers listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) and Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE).
Review the following resources:
- Summary by Norton Rose Fullbright LLP
- Summary by Osler LLP
- CBCA Amendment Act and new regulations on the Government of Canada's website
