Executive Summary:
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Once again this year, we have found little progress made in women ascending to the most senior leadership roles in Canada’s Top 100 companies. The percentage of women in top executive roles is 7.4% comprising 36 executives in 39 roles as three of these women actually hold two executive positions in the survey. This is the highest percentage since we began tracking these numbers in 2006, but in absolute terms only represents an increase of one woman executive from 2010.
In the past six years the numbers have risen modestly, however remain well below a reasonable initial target of 20%. This target represents one woman at the most senior level in every Top 100 company and is more consistent with the make-up of the talent pool of corporate officers one level below. Today, 31 companies on our Top 100 list meet this threshold of at least one woman at the very top level, and 5 companies have more than one woman in their top 5 executives. But an astonishing 69 of Canada’s 100 biggest corporations employ only men at the helm.