Participating securities regulators in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan have published data underpinning the Canadian Securities Administrators’ eighth annual review of women on boards and in executive officer positions.

 Discussed in CSA Multilateral Staff Notice 58-314 Review of Disclosure Regarding Women on Boards and in Executive Officer Positions, Year 8 Report, the data includes insight from a sample of 625 issuers listed on the TSX that were subject to disclosure requirements in this area. “As of May 31, 2022, approximately 1,779 issuers were listed on the TSX, of which, approximately 792 were subject to the disclosure requirements.

The review sample showed that 24 per cent of board seats are held by women, an increase of two per cent since 2021. In year one of the study just 11 per cent of board seats were occupied by women. Board vacancies filled by women increased 10 per cent from 35 per cent last year to 45 per cent this this year; 87 per cent of the sampled companies have at least one woman on their board, a five per cent increase and 36 per cent of issuers have at least three women on their board, an increase of six per cent. Just seven percent of issuers have a woman chairing their board of directors.

In the C-suite, just five per cent of issuers had a woman in the CEO’s role while 19 per cent had a woman serving as chief financial officer. Issuers with at least one woman in an executive position climbed one point to 75 per cent, even though just four per cent of issuers have adopted targets for the representation of women in executive officer positions.

In financial services, 86 per cent of issuers had one or more women on their boards, up from 59 per cent in year one of the study. The percentage of issuers with one or more women in executive officer positions increased from 64 per cent in year one to 75 per cent in year eight.