Osler releases 2025 Diversity Disclosure report: Canadian public companies show progress on diversity but continue to face challenges Osler releases 2025 Diversity Disclosure report: Canadian public companies show progress on diversity but continue to face challenges

Progress to enhance diversity among senior leadership at Canadian public companies continued to lose momentum in 2025, according to data from Osler’s eleventh annual comprehensive report, Diversity Disclosure Practices: Diversity and leadership at Canadian public companies report [PDF].

“While the representation of women on the boards of TSX-listed companies passed the 30% threshold for the first time this year, rapid and significant changes in the broader political, regulatory and business environment over the past 12 months have created challenges for diversity-related initiatives,” says John Valley, Chair of Osler’s Corporate Governance practice and a partner in the Corporate Group.

“While the proportion of women on boards continued to increase, it did so at a far lower rate than in prior years and at only approximately half the rate we saw last year. It is noteworthy that all of this year’s growth appears to have come from companies outside of the S&P/TSX Composite index. And, for the first time, we saw a measurable decrease in the proportion of issuers providing disclosure in response to the diversity disclosure requirements,” he added.

There was essentially no change in the proportion of women executive officers, and a slight decline in the number of CEOs who are women. For companies required to report under the CBCA diversity disclosure requirement, the representation of members of visible minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and persons with disabilities on boards and in executive officer positions also remained flat — or, in some cases, decreased slightly from last year.

Osler’s comprehensive report analyzes disclosure by TSX-listed companies and corporations governed by the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) that are subject to disclosure requirements. The 2025 report provides detailed year-over-year comparisons and chapters summarizing the results of our review of CBCA company disclosure.

The report notes that it is clear that the broader environment presents challenges to continued progress on diversity-related initiatives and that it appears that continued diversity progress will depend on companies recognizing the strategic value of enhancing their diversity-related practices and building a pipeline of capable diverse senior leaders.  

Key highlights of the report include:

• Women now hold 30.5% of board seats among all TSX-listed companies disclosing the number of women directors on their boards.
• There has been an 8.5% decline in the rate at which women are being appointed to fill new or vacant director positions at TSX-listed companies.
• There has been a 7.9% decline in the number of companies that disclose whether they consider the level of representation of women in making executive officer appointments.
• A 5.5% decline in the proportion of companies considering the representation of women in their director candidates.

Research methodology

Data presented in our 2025 Diversity Disclosure Practices report was obtained by surveying public disclosure documents filed on SEDAR+ by all TSX-listed companies other than venture issuers, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds and structured notes, including CBCA corporations that are listed on the TSX. The data presented in this report in response to the CBCA requirement were obtained by surveying public disclosure documents filed on SEDAR+ by “distributing corporations” governed by the CBCA, including venture issuers, that are subject to that requirement. Generally speaking, a “distributing corporation” is a corporation with publicly traded securities. Our research methodology is detailed in chapter 6 of the report.

Further analysis

Interested in learning more about diversity in corporate Canada? Read our full report [PDF] or contact John Valley.