Nearly one year after Canada enacted its diversity disclosure requirements, Canadian public companies are making slow progress in improving diversity on their boards and at the executive-officer level, a new report by law firm Osler finds. The report also showcases several corporate standouts, providing a benchmark for chief ethics and compliance officers in companies across all industries and countries to meet.
As of Jan. 1, publicly listed, federally incorporated companies governed by the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) had to start providing in their annual meeting materials to shareholders enhanced disclosures about the company’s diversity policies and practices relating to its board of directors and senior management team. Specifically, companies must disclose, at a minimum, information on the representation of the following four “designated groups,” as defined under the Employment Equity Act: women, Aboriginal persons, members of “visible minorities,” and persons with disabilities. Companies also have the option to voluntarily disclose information about other groups they feel contribute to their diversity efforts—such as age, veteran status, and sexual orientation.
