Author(s):
Andrew MacDougall, Michele Qu
November 2014
The lack of gender diversity on boards and in senior management may not be news, but the corporate, legislative and regulatory initiatives being introduced to address this deep-rooted issue are. In 2013, 41.7% of Canadian public companies did not have any female directors. Over the past year, changes proposed by a range of stakeholders aim to redress this imbalance.
This chapter of Osler’s Planning for 2015: A 2014 Canadian Proxy Season Retrospective examines the topic of gender diversity and analyzes recent developments and those that will continue to have an impact on the representation of women on boards in the years ahead, such as:
- Trends in jurisdictions around the world, including disclosure rules for board diversity in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia
- Shareholder proposals that have sought to increase the number of female board members
- Proposed changes to the Canada Business Corporations Act that strive to promote gender balance on Canadian boards
- New disclosure requirements issued by the Ontario Securities Commission and other provincial securities regulatory authorities that will be effective for the 2015 Proxy Season
DOWNLOAD PDF: Gender Diversity on Boards and in Senior Management
Part of the 2014 Canadian Proxy Season Retrospective.