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Diversity disclosure requirements changing for federally incorporated public companies effective January 1, 2020

Posted in : Blog
Posted on : December 19, 2019

Effective January 1, 2020, distributing corporations governed by the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) will be required to report on the corporations policies and practices related to diversity and inclusion, including the number and percentages of members of the board and senior management who are:

• Women
• Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Métis)
• Persons with disabilities; and
• Members of visible minorities.
  
  

Canada is the first jurisdiction in the world to require reporting on dimensions of diversity other than gender. According to the CBCA, the rationale of the requirements is to “foster a conversation between corporate management and shareholders on this important issue” and “to place responsibility on Canada’s corporations to advance this issue by utilizing the “comply or explain” approach with respect to formulating a policy on diversity."

Our advice

• Be honest and transparent. Don’t try and spin your position with marketing speak. You are where you are today. The question is: what are you going to do about it?
• Remember this is a journey, not a destination. You don’t have to be perfect.
• This isn’t Distributing corporations are required to report. These are typically corporations that file documents with a securities commission and sells shares on a stock exchange. Visit https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/cs08317.html for more information.
• Don’t apologize or make excuses. Own where you are and talk about how you’re going to make change.

CCDI has extensive experience providing consulting on employment equity reporting. Contact us today to learn more.

Tags CDNdiversity Diversity disclosure Federally incorporated public companies Canada Business Corporations Act CBCA