The Canadian DEI Class Actions Landscape: Best Practices For Employers

The "Social" aspect of ESG encompasses a broad range of social factors that affect Canadian businesses, including human rights, health and safety, employee engagement and satisfaction, Indigenous reconciliation, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The latter is the focus of this article.

Canadian companies and their boards of directors are under heightened scrutiny to report on DEI data and to take steps to ensure they are meeting their commitments. Regulators and private securities advisors are also dedicating considerable resources to supporting issuers in advancing these commitments. The Canadian Securities Administrators have published corporate governance disclosures and best practice guidelines open for public comment relating to broader board and executive officer representation beyond gender diversity.