Leadership thrives when diverse voices are empowered to lead. As a longstanding leader in Canadian business law, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP has built its reputation on more than legal excellence — it has been shaped by a deep rooted commitment to diversity in leadership. This commitment is woven into our history and central to who we are as a firm, guiding how we cultivate talent, advance women leaders, and shape the future of our profession.
Diversity also influences the research and thought leadership we develop at the firm, particularly our annual Diversity Disclosure Practices report, which highlights best practices for improving gender diversity among boards, executive teams, and the pipeline of future leaders. This frequently referenced publication — now in its eleventh year — also spotlights companies achieving gender parity on boards and in executive officer roles.
Osler began tracking diversity related data on the TSX in 2015, when securities regulators amended laws to require publicly listed companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange to disclose gender diversity on boards and in senior leadership positions. The comprehensive report analyzes disclosure by TSX listed companies as well as corporations governed by the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) that are subject to disclosure requirements.
The objective of the report is to update the data annually, providing a snapshot of how issuers are progressing. It also serves as a roadmap to help guide organizations on their journey to building robust talent pipelines and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within their workplaces.
Last year, the report authors John Valley, partner and Chair of the Corporate Governance practice, Jessie Armour and Shae-Lynne Shaheen, associates in the Corporate group, observed a pivotal shift. While representation of women on the boards of TSX listed companies surpassed the 30% threshold for the first time, rapid and significant changes in the political, regulatory, and business environment over the preceding 12 months created new challenges for diversity related initiatives.
Although the proportion of women on boards continued to increase in 2025, the pace slowed considerably. Growth reached just 0.7 percentage points, compared to an average annual increase of approximately two percentage points since reporting began. This marked the lowest rate of growth observed to date and was roughly half of the 1.3 percentage point increase seen the previous year.
“While the proportion of women on boards continued to increase, it did so at a far lower rate than in prior years and at only approximately half the rate we saw last year,” said John Valley. “It is noteworthy that all of this year’s growth appears to have come from companies outside of the S&P/TSX Composite Index. For the first time, we also saw a measurable decrease in the proportion of issuers providing disclosure in response to the diversity disclosure requirements.”
The report also noted that changes in the broader political, regulatory, and business environment created obstacles for diversity focused initiatives. This was most evident in the United States following the issuance of several executive orders by U.S. President Donald Trump related to DEI programs. As a result, many companies — particularly those operating or listed in the U.S. — reduced or reframed their communications around DEI, and some revised their voting guidelines related to diversity.
Despite these developments, shareholders in the United States continued to strongly oppose anti DEI shareholder proposals during proxy season, and many companies quietly maintained core diversity initiatives.
The report found little change in the proportion of women serving as executive officers, along with a slight decline in the number of women CEOs. Additionally, there was a 7.9% decline in the number of companies disclosing whether they consider gender representation when making executive officer appointments.
Among companies required to report under the CBCA diversity disclosure requirements, representation of visible minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and persons with disabilities on boards and in executive officer positions remained flat, or in some cases declined slightly, compared to the prior year.
ADVANCING LEADERSHIP AT OSLER
Internally, Osler has developed its own roadmap to achieving equity and diversity goals. The firm is a longstanding member of the 30% Club, a global campaign of business leaders committed to increasing gender diversity on boards and senior management teams, with a minimum target of 30% female representation and a longer term goal of parity.
Osler’s Partnership Board (the equivalent of a corporate board of directors) has mandated that at least 30% of its members be women and has implemented a guideline requiring women to comprise at least 30% of the partners on the Compensation Committee. In 2025, six of the 13 members of the Partnership Board were women. And as of 2024, Osler exceeded its goal of having at least 30% women partners.
In 2025, women held 70% of the firm’s chief executive positions, including roles such as Chief Client Officer, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Chief Legal Talent Officer, Chief of Osler Works – Transactional & Legal Operations, and Chief Human Resources Officer.
ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN LAWYERS INITIATIVE
Advancing a greater proportion of women into the firm’s partnership remains a strategic priority, with the overarching objective of achieving greater gender parity. To support this goal, Osler has committed significant resources since 2020 to its multi faceted Advancement of Women Lawyers (AWL) initiative.
The program focuses on identifying and removing barriers to inclusion through targeted, tailored strategies designed to retain women lawyers, support the advancement of women associates to partner, and promote women partners into leadership roles across the firm.
HELPING OUR CLIENTS DEVELOP LEADERSHIP IN THEIR ORGANIZATIONS
As part of its broader commitment to gender diversity and equity, Osler also creates opportunities for women founders to amplify their voices and build meaningful connections. Launched in late 2021, Osler’s Women in Emerging and High Growth Companies Leadership series features inspirational women leaders from Canada’s emerging and high growth business community. Participants share stories of success, challenges encountered along the way, and lessons learned throughout their careers.
We remain committed to providing women at Osler — and across our community of clients and colleagues — with the tools, resources, and support they need to succeed and reach new levels of leadership in law and business.
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