On May 18, 2021, the securities regulatory authorities in Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Saskatchewan (the “participating securities regulators”) published the underlying data used to prepare the sixth-year review of women on boards and in executive officer positions. The data was compiled from public documents filed on SEDAR for the 610 non-venture issuers who were included in the review sample. Previously, on March 10, 2021, the participating securities regulators published CSA Multilateral Staff Notice 58-312 summarizing the underlying data (the “Notice”). The Notice revealed the following:
- 20% of board seats were held by women;
- 79% of issuers had at least one woman on their board;
- 5% of issuers had a woman CEO;
- 15% of issuers had a woman CFO;
- 65% of issuers had at least one woman in an executive officer position; and
- 54% of issuers adopted a policy relating to the representation of women on their board.
The notice indicates that the Canadian Securities Administrators will continue to monitor trends in this area and will be considering its role in the broader diversity conversation. We look forward to following these discussions and important initiatives with interest.
May 31, 2021