Canadian securities regulators publish sixth review regarding women on boards and in executive officer positions
Mar 10, 2021
On March 10, 2021, the Securities regulatory authorities in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec and Saskatchewan (the participating jurisdictions) published results from the sixth year review of women on boards and in executive officer positions.
The notice summarizes results from a review of the disclosure of 610 issuers with year-ends between December 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020. The review focuses on public disclosure regarding women on boards and in executive officer positions, as set out in National Instrument 58-101 Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices.
Key trends from this year’s review include:
- The total number of board seats occupied by women increased to 20 per cent in 2020, compared to 11 per cent in 2015.
- Seventy-nine per cent of issuers had at least one woman on their board, an increase from 49 per cent in 2015.
- Six per cent of issuers had a female chair of their board.
- Over half of issuers adopted a policy relating to the representation of women on their board, representing a significant increase since 2015.
The CSA intends to publish the underlying data from the review by summer 2021.
Review the press release on the CSA's website and the CSA Multilateral Staff Notice 58-312 Report on Sixth Staff Review of Disclosure Regarding Women on Boards and in Executive Officer Positions on the OSC's website.
