Authors: John M. Valley, Jessie Armour and Shae-Lynne Shaheen
Diversity beyond gender: 2025 results for CBCA corporations
This year’s results show a decline in the number of board positions held by visible minorities, Indigenous Peoples and persons with a disability compared to last year, although the percentage of board positions held by visible minorities and Indigenous Peoples increased slightly. At the executive officer level, the data shows a declining trend in representation of designated groups, with the exception of Indigenous Peoples.
Director diversity beyond gender
Corporations governed by the CBCA with publicly traded securities are required to provide diversity disclosure regarding women on their boards and in senior management consistent with the requirements under Canadian securities laws, as well as corresponding disclosure respecting Indigenous Peoples, members of visible minorities and persons with disabilities. In this chapter, we provide the results of our review of disclosure provided in compliance with the CBCA Requirement.
The analysis in this chapter is based on disclosure provided prior to August 1, 2025, by 286 CBCA corporations in compliance with the CBCA Requirement (a decline of 9.8% in the number of CBCA corporations reported as being in compliance with the CBCA Requirement as of mid-year 2024).
Of the 286 CBCA corporations covered by this chapter, 172 (60.1%) are TSX issuers that provided disclosure in compliance with the Diversity Disclosure Requirement at mid-year 2025. As there is overlap between the two groups, we include data from CBCA corporations listed on the TSX both in this chapter and in our chapters on 2025 diversity disclosure by TSX-listed issuers. However, since the CBCA Requirement applies to public CBCA corporations that are listed on other stock exchanges, including the TSX Venture Exchange, the remaining portion of the corporations for which the data is included in this chapter relates to those smaller issuers.
We recognize that there are a range of terms used to reference the various diversity characteristics referred to in this chapter and elsewhere in this report. Different companies make different choices in this regard. Since our report is based on disclosure made by companies in response to legislated disclosure requirements, we have generally used the same terms as the legislation where applicable to avoid confusion. However, we have chosen to use the term “Indigenous Peoples” to include references to “Indians,” “Inuit” and “Métis” Peoples covered by the term “Aboriginal peoples” in the legislation referenced by the CBCA Requirement.
Board representation of visible minorities, Indigenous Peoples and persons with disabilities
| Members of visible minorities | Indigenous Peoples | Persons with disabilities | |||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |
| Percentage of population | 27%1 | 5%1 | 27% (Aged 15 and older)2 | ||||||
| Number of board positions3 | 180 | 185 | 191 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 8 | 12 | 12 |
| Percentage of board positions3 | 10.7% | 10.2% | 10.2% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| Number of companies with at least one director from the applicable designated group3 | 113 | 111 | 114 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 11 |
| Average number per board3 | 0.80 | 0.76 | 0.75 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.07 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| Percentage of companies with director targets for members of the applicable designated group | 2.4% | 2.8% | 2.5% | <1.0% | <1.0% | <1.0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
- Source: Statistics Canada, Census of Population, 2021.
- Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Disability, 2022.
- Based on the number of companies disclosing the number of directors who are from the applicable designated group. In 2025, 225 such companies disclosed the number of directors who are members of visible minorities, 215 companies disclosed the number of directors who are Indigenous Peoples and 212 companies disclosed the number of directors who are persons with disabilities.
We also note that approximately 14% of those CBCA companies providing full or partial disclosure reported that they had directors who were members of a designated group, but did not specify which group. The proportion of companies taking this approach was relatively consistent with last year and, like last year, when disclosing designated group diversity some companies included women as part of their collective designated group disclosure, while others did not. Since these companies did not provide a breakdown by designated group, we are not able to reflect these responses in the table above. As a result, there is an under-reporting of the number and percentage of directors as well as the number of companies with targets for those groups.
For purposes of the CBCA Requirement, the term “visible minorities” is defined to mean persons, other than Indigenous Peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour. Statistics Canada states that the visible minority population consists mainly of the following groups: South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Arab, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean and Japanese. According to data from Statistics Canada, in 2021 approximately 26.5% of Canada’s population were visible minorities. However, based on the disclosure provided by 225 CBCA corporations that disclosed the number of board members who were visible minorities, only 10.7% of directors were visible minorities. CBCA corporations averaged only 0.8 directors from visible minorities per board in 2025.
The term “Aboriginal peoples” is defined under the CBCA Requirement to mean persons who are “Indians,” “Inuit” or “Métis” (all as defined in the applicable statutes). According to data from Statistics Canada, in 2021 approximately 5% of Canada’s population were Indigenous Peoples. The number of board positions held by Indigenous directors was slightly down compared to last year in absolute terms, but the percentage of board positions held by Indigenous Peoples demonstrated a marginal increase. Representation of persons with disabilities on the boards of CBCA corporations decreased across all metrics.
On a combined basis, directors who identified as being from a visible minority or as Indigenous collectively held 11.8% of the board seats among those CBCA companies that provided full or partial disclosure. This compares favourably to Australia on racial or ethnic diversity, but lags both the U.S. and the U.K.
To make progress on diversity beyond gender, public company boards will need to change their approach to identifying and appointing directors from these designated groups. The proportion of CBCA corporations that disclosed that their written board diversity policy does relate to these designated groups is significant, but continues to lag the proportion with diversity policies that relate to women directors.
The complimentary Board Diversity Policy Template from Osler and the Institute of Corporate Directors addresses the CBCA Requirement, as well as other diversity characteristics. The template provides an easy way to generate a template board policy that considers diversity based on gender and other characteristics to initiate a broader discussion on diversity at the board level.
Learn moreTargets for director diversity beyond gender
It remains the case that very few CBCA corporations have adopted targets for directors from designated groups other than women. Examples of issuers that have adopted targets for visible minority directors include Enbridge Inc., Franco-Nevada Corporation, Gildan Activewear Inc., George Weston Limited and Loblaw Companies Limited, while Cameco Corporation has identified a target for Indigenous representation. We did not identify any CBCA corporations that disclosed having adopted a target for persons with disabilities.
We identified a further 19 CBCA corporations that adopted collective targets for diversity. A few have established targets for the designated groups collectively with separate targets for women directors, while others have adopted an aggregate target for all designated groups. In some cases, the collective target includes 2SLGBTQ+ directors. A few have adopted a collective diversity target to be applied to the board and executive officers as a group. As noted above, issuers who adopted collective targets for diversity are not included in our analysis.
Executive officers who are members of visible minorities, Indigenous Peoples and persons with disabilities
| Members of visible minorities | Indigenous Peoples | Persons with disabilities | |||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |
| Number of companies with at least one executive officer from the applicable designated group1 | 93 | 101 | 100 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Average number of executive officers per company for the applicable designated group | 0.93 | 0.96 | 0.88 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.03 |
- Based on the number of companies disclosing the number of executive officers who are from the applicable designated group. In 2025, 211 companies disclosed the number of executive officers who are visible minorities, 206 companies disclosed the number of executive officers who are Indigenous Peoples and 206 companies disclosed the number of executive officers who are persons with disabilities.
Although a substantial portion of companies that disclosed whether they consider the representation of each of these designated groups when considering executive officer appointments indicated that they do so, there continues to be significant room for improvement given the stagnant trend in the number of companies disclosing that they had at least one executive officer from the applicable designated group in the table above.
Targets for executive officer diversity beyond gender
No CBCA companies were identified as having adopted targets for executive officer diversity beyond gender. A limited group — including CAE Inc., Eldorado Gold Corporation, G Mining Ventures Corp., Intact Financial Corporation and Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp. — disclosed targets for representation of designated groups collectively in executive officer positions in 2024. In some cases, the collective target includes 2SLGBTQ+ executive officers.
Representation of women in CBCA board and executive officer roles
Consistent with previous years’ results, on most metrics, corporations subject to the CBCA Requirement disclosed results that were below the average results for the TSX-listed issuers subject to the Diversity Disclosure Requirement. The lower results are attributable to the fact that the CBCA Requirement also applies to smaller corporations than the Diversity Disclosure Requirement does.
Women directors of CBCA corporations
| Number (%) of board seats | Average number per board | Average % per board | Written policy relating to women | Target for directors | |
| 2025 | 519 (27.9%) | 2.05 | 25.1% | 122 (48.2%) | 85 (32.0%) |
| 2024 | 549 (27.0%) | 2.00 | 24.0% | 136 (46.3%) | 87 (29.8%) |
We noted a significant decline in the overall number of board seats held by women. Of the 1,858 board seats at the 253 companies disclosing the number of women directors on their boards, 519 (27.9%) were filled by women. This represents an increase of 0.9 percentage points from mid-year 2024. This increase may be overstated to the extent that companies which did not provide disclosure this year were those with fewer women directors. The percentage of women directors at CBCA companies remains lower than the 30.5% of total board seats held by women at all companies subject to the Diversity Disclosure Requirement that disclosed the number of women directors on their boards. For CBCA companies listed on the TSX, women held 32.8% of the board seats. But for CBCA companies that are not listed on the TSX, women held only 14.3% of the board seats, which substantially lowered the percentage for CBCA issuers as a group.
CBCA companies nominated women for election to newly available board seats at a rate (27.1%) below the rate for all TSX-listed companies subject to the Diversity Disclosure Requirement (31.9%).
All-male boards made up approximately one-fifth (20.6% or 52 corporations) of the CBCA corporation boards. Of the companies that provided disclosure in response to the CBCA Requirement, 201 corporations, or 79.4% disclosed they had at least one woman director. Among CBCA corporations providing diversity disclosure, 64, or 25.3%, reported having one woman director and 137, or approximately 54.2%, reported having more than one woman on their boards. There were 21 disclosing CBCA corporations (8.4%) that reported having 50% or more women directors. Compared to mid-year 2024, the number of all-male boards and the number of boards with 50% or more women directors both decreased.
Women executive officers of CBCA corporations
The story is similar at the executive officer level, with CBCA corporations reporting lower results than the TSX-listed issuers as a group.
| Average number of executive officers | Average % of executive officers | Number of companies considering women in executive officer appointments | Target for women executive officers | |
| 2025 | 1.99 | 20.3% | 208 (88.5%) | 25 (10.0%) |
| 2024 | 1.80 | 19.7% | 248 (88.3%) | 30 (10.9%) |
Women CEOs, board chairs and committee chairs of CBCA corporations
Of the companies subject to the CBCA Requirement and providing full or partial disclosure in response to those requirements, 13 (approximately 4.5%) had a woman CEO, 25 (approximately 8.7%) had a woman board chair and 149 (approximately 52.1%) had at least one woman committee chair.
As noted elsewhere in this report, since the number of committees varies and the identity of committee chairs is not required disclosure, in some instances the information was not readily obtainable.
