Women advancing slowly into top management positions

Although the firms overseen by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) are increasingly setting representation targets for women in their boards of directors, the number of board positions held by women is evolving at a glacial pace.

The CSA’s Fifth Staff Review of Disclosure Regarding Women on Boards and in Executive Officer Positions, that included disclosures by 641 issuers, found that only 17% of board positions are held by women. This proportion is six percentage points higher than when the review debuted in 2015.

The number of issuers with at least one women on their board climbed to 73% from 66% in the fourth year and 49% in the first year of the review. Five percent of issuers had a female board chair.

The report also shows that women are more prominent on Boards of Directors of firms with high market capitalization. Issuers whose capitalization exceeds $10 billion have 27% more women on their boards of directors, versus 13% for issuers with capitalization below $1 billion.

Among the 641 issuers, 170 (27%) had no women on their boards of directors 

Fewer women executives 

The number of issuers who set targets for female representation in top management has stagnated in the five years since the review began. In year five, only 3% claimed to have set targets, compared with 2% in year one.

Slightly more than three out of five issuers (64%) have at least one woman in an executive position. This represents a decrease compared with the previous year (66%) but progress since 2015 (60%).

Further, the number of female CEOs (4%) remained unchanged since last year, the first year this statistic was compiled, and 15% of issuers have a woman chief financial officer.

“Publishing this data reflects our commitment to ensuring investors have information to help them make informed decisions,” said Louis Morisset, CSA Chair and President and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers.

This review was carried out by securities regulatory authorities in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan.