Reporting On Diversity – A Spellbinding Challenge

On October 5, 2023, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) released CSA Multilateral Staff Notice 58-316 (the Notice) – their ninth notice summarizing the responses provided by issuers obligated to disclose information relating to women on boards and in executive positions.

The notice was a summary of a review of the corporate governance disclosures of 602 non-venture issuers with fiscal year-ends between December 31, 2022 and March 31, 2023. As of May 2023, there were approximately 1,776 issuers listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, such that the review is a snapshot of only 33.89% of the industry.

National Instrument 58-101 Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practices (NI 58-101) requires certain issuers to provide specific information regarding women on boards and in executive officer positions. The required corporate governance disclosures focus on five topics that are meant to provide investors and other stakeholders information on the firm's efforts