Gender Diversity in Canadian Corporations: Rise in Board Seats for Women Hides Scant Progress in Leadership Roles

Gender diversity on boards and among board leadership positions brings financial and non-financial benefits that go beyond a company’s ESG performance. Canada, like many other countries, has seen women make gains both in terms of total board seats and the percentages they represent on boards.

But that only tells part of the story. Our research shows that those numerical gains are not matched by increases in women holding leadership roles such as the heads of compensation, audit, and nominating committees, while female CEOs remain few and far between.