Just 34 per cent of Canadian employers had boards with female representation of 40 per cent or more as of October 2022, according to a new report by MSCI Inc.
The report, which analyzed more than 2,800 employers in 18 countries across the Americas and Europe, found more than a third (38 per cent) reported that at least 30 per cent of board seats were held by women.
Read: More women on boards, but work required to increase overall diversity: report
It also found eight out of 18 countries in developed markets in the Americas and Europe have already set mandatory or voluntary 40 per cent board gender diversity quotas.
The report noted prominent investment organizations have been at the forefront of pushing for greater board gender diversity, citing the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s new guidelines that advocate for large-cap companies to increase women’s representation on boards to 40 per cent.
Among the sectors represented in the report, materials had the biggest gap between companies that met the 30 per cent and 40 per cent thresholds (69.3 per cent and 19.3 per cent, respectively), while communication services had the smallest gap and the highest percentage (43.7 per cent) of companies that had reached the 40 per cent threshold.
Read: Ontario Teachers’ focusing on board diversity in proxy voting guidelines