The 2011 Catalyst Census: Financial Post 500 Women Board Directors details women’s representation on corporate boards at the largest companies in Canada. This biennial report provides critical statistics to gauge women’s advancement into leadership and highlights the gender diversity gap. Each year Catalyst tracks:
- Women’s share of all board seats.
- Women’s share of board leadership positions at public companies.
- Women’s share of board seats at public, private, Crown, and cooperative companies.
- All companies with 0 percent, 25 percent or more, and 40 percent or more women directors.
The appendices provide additional points of comparison by region and industry as well as list companies with the highest and lowest representation of women board directors.
In 2011, women held 14.5 percent of board seats at Financial Post 500 companies, an increase of half of a percentage point since 2009. In both 2009 and 2011, approximately 40 percent of companies had no women board directors. Women held just 3.6 percent of board chair positions at public companies in 2011; in 2009, women held 3.2 percent of these positions. Finally, the percentage of women directors at public companies remained at 10.3 percent since 2009, while Crown corporations continue to have the highest representation of women directors compared to other company types.
Research Partners: American Express Company, BMO Financial Group, Chevron Corporation, Credit Suisse, Deloitte LLP, Desjardins Group, Deutsche Bank AG, Ernst & Young LLP, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM Corporation, KeyBank, McDonald’s Corporation, UPS