CONTACT
Sylvia Apostolidis
Director, Member Services
Catalyst Canada Inc.
8 King Street East, Suite 505
Toronto, Ontario M5C-1B5
phone: (416) 815-7600 ext. 632
fax: (416) 815-7601
email: sapostolidis@catalyst.org
office email: caninfo@catalyst.org
MEDIA CONTACT
Susan Nierenberg
Vice President, Global Communications
(646) 388-7744
snierenberg@catalyst.org
Canada
What’s New
On June 9, Catalyst Canada released the 2007 Catalyst Census of Women Board Directors of the FP500: Voices From the Boardroom, its fifth since 1998 and its seventh of women in top leadership. Interviews with 56 women directors lent "voice" to data from public, private, and Crown companies.
The news was mixed: women held 13.0 percent of all board seats, up by only one percentage point since 2005; more than 40 percent of FP500 companies had no women directors; and less than one-third had multiple women on their boards. However, mirroring findings from the U.S. 2007 Catalyst Census of Women Board Directors in the Fortune 500, Canadian women gained ground as chairs of powerful board committees, with their representation as chairs rising by two percentage points to 3.4 percent.
Catalyst Canada's Census was released at a panel discussion at the Toronto headquarters of CIBC, the study's Lead Sponsor. Panelists included Linda Hasenfratz, CEO and Director, Linamar Corporation; Nora Aufreiter, Senior Director and Location Manager, McKinsey & Company Canada; and David Forster, Managing Partner, Greater Toronto Area, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Canada. The latter two companies were Supporting Sponsors. Also presenting was Deborah Gillis, who heads Catalyst's Canadian office.
Visible Minorities
On June 25, Catalyst Canada released Career Advancement in Corporate Canada: A Focus on Visible Minorities ~ Cultural Fit and Stereotyping. The study, the fourth in a research series examining issues for this disadvantaged population, discusses their "fit" in Canadian companies and provides recommendations for recognizing and correcting negative stereotyping.