CHAPTER 07 Beyond Gender: Diversity and Inclusiveness Now and Going Forward
DIVERSITY TRENDS FOR MINORITY GROUPS As discussed in Davies Governance Insights 2019 , 136 some meaningful progress has been made with respect to the representation of women among the leadership of Canadian public companies, including in senior executive and director positions. However, the same cannot yet be said with respect to diversity among other under-represented groups.
FIGURE 7-2: C BCA Designated Groups – Percentage of Canada’s Population (2016) vs Percentage of CBCA Public Company Directors (2020)
60%
50%
CBCA DIrectors Canada’s Population (2016)
50%
40%
31%
30&
22.3%
22%
20%
10%
5.5%
4.9%
0.78%
1.18%
0%
Women
Visible Minorities
Persons with Disabilities
Indigeneous Peoples
Note: The population data is based on Canada’s most recent census in 2016 and the data on CBCA public company directors is from The Financial Post . 137
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
For example, The Financial Post recently completed a review of 23 CBCA public companies that had filed proxy circulars in 2020. Of the 23 boards and 255 director positions that were reviewed, only 14 (5.5%) directors were identified as visible minorities, and there were only three Indigenous directors and two directors with disabilities. Fourteen of the 23 issuers reported that they did not have a director who identified as a visible minority, and 11 of the 23 issuers reported that they had no directors from any of the four designated groups aside from women. All 23 issuers reported that they had at least one female director, with 31% of all directors being women. The Financial Post also indicated that these data points were not significantly better for senior executive positions at the 23 issuers. 137 As shown in Figure 7-2, based on The Financial Post ’s data, board composition is not yet representative of Canada’s population at large. For context, Canada’s most recent census in 2016 indicates that 22.3% of Canada’s overall population identifies as a visible minority and 4.9% identify as Indigenous peoples. 0
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