A quarter (24 per cent) of board seats in Canada are held by women, up two per cent since last year, according to a new report by the Canadian Securities Administrators.
The report, which tracked TSX-listed companies and other non-venture issuers subject to the CSA’s disclosure requirements regarding women on boards and in executive officer positions, found the percentage of board vacancies filled by women increased from 35 per cent in 2021 to 45 per cent in 2022. As well, seven per cent of boards had a woman chair.
The majority (87 per cent) of companies reported having at least one woman on their board, up five per cent from last year, while 30 per cent had at least three women on their board, an increase of six per cent since 2021.
Read: More women on boards, but work required to increase overall diversity: report
In terms of executive officer positions, 70 per cent of companies had at least one woman in an executive officer position, 19 per cent had a female chief financial officer and five per cent had a woman chief executive officer.
Nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) of companies adopted a policy relating to the representation of women on their boards, 39 per cent adopted targets for the representation of women on their boards and four per cent adopted targets for the representation of women in executive officer positions.
“Investors are increasingly looking for more information about diversity on boards and in executive officer positions,” said Stan Magidson, chair of the CSA and chair and chief executive officer of the Alberta Securities Commission, in a press release. “The increased representation of women in corporate board rooms and in senior leadership is encouraging and we’re considering our approach with respect to broader diversity.”
Read: Canada seeing measurable improvements in women on corporate boards: report