The ninth annual Report: 2023 Diversity Disclosure Practices – Diversity and leadership at Canadian public companies has been released by the law firm Osler.
The report notes that, among executive officers, the proportion of women has increased significantly annually among Canada’s largest companies for the last few years, but this pattern has been primarily driven by the S&P/TSX Composite Index companies and not yet been emulated by smaller companies. The report also notes that virtually no progress has been made among Indigenous peoples and persons with a disability at the executive officer level.
In a major failing of the report, there is no discussion or inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. This lessens the value of the analysis and discussion because, given the low representation of the LGBTQ+ community, its absence means the report’s diversity measures are overstated. Inclusion would further emphasize the lack of progress on broad diversity issues in Canada’s boardrooms and executive offices.
You can read the report HERE.