Percentage of women on boards of directors edges higher, CSA report
Posted Oct 5, 2017 1:11 pm.
Last Updated Oct 5, 2017 1:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – The percentage of board seats filled by women has edged higher, according to a report by the Canadian Securities Administrators.
The total percentage of board seats occupied by women increased to 14 per cent compared with 12 per cent last year and 11 per cent in 2015 when the report was first published.
The report also found that companies with a market capitalization of more than $10 billion had 24 per cent of board seats held by women, compared with 21 per cent in the first year of the study.
Sixty-one per cent of companies have at least one woman on their boards, compared with 49 per cent in the first year, while sixty two per cent had at least one woman in an executive officer position, up from 60 per cent.
The report reviewed the corporate governance disclosure of 660 TSX-listed companies with financial year ends between Dec. 31, 2016 and March 31, 2017.
The big six Canadian banks were not included because their financial year ends on Oct. 31, however the report noted that they had an average of 35 per cent of women on their boards.
The Ontario Securities Commission is set to hold a roundtable on women on boards and in executive positions on Oct. 24.
