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Diversity in leadership at S&P/TSX companies

The business case for diversity and inclusion in corporate leadership has never been stronger. More diversity contributes to improved corporate social responsibility, innovation, employee satisfaction, governance practices and risk management. Despite growing evidence of these benefits, diversity in corporate Canada’s leadership remains inadequate, tied to a lack of effective mechanisms for measurement, tracking and accountability.

Various interventions, including government legislation and advocacy initiatives like the 30%+ Club and BlackNorth Initiative (BNI), aim to address the slow progress in achieving diversity, particularly for women and racialized individuals. The 30%+ Club focuses on achieving at least 30% representation of women on boards and executive teams globally, while BNI aims to combat anti-Black systemic racism and achieve 3.5% representation of Black leaders in executive and board roles.

This report assesses the state of diversity in leadership roles in corporate Canada, focusing on representation of equity-deserving groups (women, Black individuals and racialized individuals) from 2015 to 2022. The study encompasses 783 firms on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), including 235 on the S&P/TSX Composite Index.

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Key Insights

1

Incremental progress has been noted since BNI’s launch in 2020, with the share of Black individuals increasing from 0.9% to 2.1% on boards and from 1% to 1.5% on executive teams for S&P/TSX Index firms.

2

From 2020 to 2022, racialized individuals’ representation increased from 4.9% to 9.3% on boards and 7.5% to 10.8% on executive teams for S&P/TSX Index firms.

3

The 30%+ Club members demonstrated higher diversity, achieving at least 30% representation of women on both the S&P/TSX Index (38.8%) and TSX (37.8%).

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