The diversity of boards has become a target of greater scrutiny.
This scrutiny has come not only from activist investors seeking
higher returns and better governance, but from governments and
various interest groups outside the corporation. It has honed in on
a variety of director characteristics, including length of tenure,
age, gender, and visible minority status. This post begins by
discussing some of the latest metrics on board diversity in Canada.
It then looks at some of the recent measures governments and
regulators have been taking to increase diversity in the
boardroom.
Length of tenure
According to a Financial Times analysis, the average length of tenure of
directors for the Canadian companies studied is just above 7.5
years. This is among the longest length of tenure for the countries
represented in the data. While the United States has a longer
average tenure, at roughly 8.5 years, most European countries have
lower average tenures, with Norway, Finland
