Canada ranks 9th in world for gender equality in the boardroom: survey

Until very recently, it didn’t make sense to publish annual statistics measuring the percentage of women sitting on the boards of big public companies in Canada.

The numbers were dismal and varied so little year over year that even organizations that exist to fight for gender equality found little value in the exercise.

That one of those organizations, Catalyst Canada, no longer holds that opinion should come as a welcome signal to professional women who’ve long been waiting for a chance to show the corporate world all they can contribute.

Toronto-based Catalyst published new research this week that shows corporate Canada is finally making real strides when it comes to recruiting more women to boardroom positions.

The global survey – the first of what Catalyst expects to be a yearly offering – found women occupy 20.8 per cent of S&P/TSX 60 board seats.

That figure is good enough to put Canada ahead of many of its peer countries around the world, including the United States and Australia, where 19.2 per cent of board seats at stock index companies are held by women.

It’s not all positive. The survey also shows Canada lagging well behind many European countries, where Norway leads at 35.5 per cent, followed by Finland (29.9 per cent), France (29.7 per cent), and Sweden (28.8 per cent).

In all, Canada ranks ninth among the 20 countries surveyed. Japanese companies fared the worst with women occupying just 3.1 per cent of board seats. In Hong Kong and India, representation is only marginally better at 10.1 per cent and 9.5 per cent, respectively.

The numbers aren’t yet where advocates want them to be. But, for Alex Johnston, executive director of Catalyst Canada, they still tell an encouraging story about Canada and its potential to become a world leader in bringing diversity to the boardroom.

Over the past few years, Johnston says she’s seen a promising shift among business leaders in the country in how they view diversity in the boardroom and at the executive level.

“Five years ago there was a quiet assumption that there weren’t going to be that many seats available to qualified women,” she says.

Today, more and more leaders across industries are showing a willingness to not only actively push to better identify and attract senior female candidates, but also step up to champion and support women earlier in their careers.

“This is not rocket science,” Johnston says. “We should get there and we can get there.”

The shift in corporate tone comes as new rules requiring listed companies to be more transparent in the steps they are taking to add more women to boards and senior executive positions are brought into effect in several regions across Canada.

Securities regulators in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories have all adopted the so-called “comply and explain” approach, which allows companies to develop their own policies to promote women on boards.

Tracy MacCharles, the Ontario minister responsible for women’s issues, tells Yahoo Canada Finance in an email sent from her office that achieving full gender parity is not only possible in the country, but essential.

“Increasing the number of women on boards and senior management positions is good for the economy, good for business, and critical for gender diversity in corporate Ontario,” the email states.

Previous research by Catalyst indicates that diverse boards strengthen a company’s bottom line, and are correlated with improved innovation and higher group performanc

The Ontario government has resisted enforced gender quotas, opting for the flexibility offered by “comply or explain”.

MacCharles says corporate response will be monitored by the Ontario Securities Commission “with a view to determining whether these regulations are enough.”