Figures released Wednesday show the number of women playing a role on the boards of Canadian companies has climbed marginally in the two years since securities regulators in a majority of provinces introduced new requirements aimed at boosting gender diversity.
Even so, the figures still fall well short of 30% female representation, a target advocacy groups have deemed reasonable in a country where women represent roughly half the population.
A report by the Canadian Securities Administrators said, overall, women occupied 12% of total board seats in the sample of 677 companies collected by provincial securities regulators, up from 11% a year earlier.
The CSA report goes on to say the rise in gender diversity since the rules were put in place across most of the country is occurring at companies of all sizes, with large ones "still leading the way."
But even at the 42 largest companies, which have a market capitalization of more than $10 billion, women filled 23% of the board seats compared to 21% last year. The next tier, those with a market cap of more than $1 billion, had boards where women held 18% of the seats, up from 16%.
