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Women Lead Here

Program Details

The Globe and Mail’s annual benchmark to identity the leaders in executive gender diversity in corporate Canada.

Overview

At Report on Business magazine, we know women are under-represented in the corner offices of corporate Canada. We feel that more female leaders will produce better businesses and—in turn—a better Canada. And we believe the time for debate is over. It’s time to act.

Enter Women Lead Here, an annual program comprising proprietary research, editorial coverage and a collaborative, change-making event.

The goals of Women Lead Here are threefold:

  1. To benchmark—and hold to account—Canada’s largest businesses on female representation in executive leadership positions;
  2. To tell the stories of organizations that have made tangible, systemic, organizational progress related to executive gender parity;
  3. To inspire more businesses—even very large, very complex ones—to implement strategies that transform the gender makeup of their executive teams.

The 2024 Women Lead Here list will be published online in the Report on Business magazine section on March 28, 2024 and in print in the April 2024 issue of Report on Business magazine.

Methodology

To create the Women Lead Here benchmark, Report on Business magazine evaluates approximately 500 publicly traded companies in Canada with annual revenues greater than $50 million.

Researchers evaluate each company’s top three tiers of executive leadership (Tier 1: CEO or equivalent; Tier 2: C-suite, president or equivalent; Tier 3: generally EVP, SVP or equivalent), measuring the ratio of female-identifying to male-identifying individuals at each tier. Each evaluated company is contacted by email to confirm the accuracy of data.

Companies with fewer than 30% of overall executive roles held by women are excluded from the benchmark as are companies with only one woman-identifying executive.

Besides the proportion of female executives, the benchmark takes a number of additional factors into consideration such as: the company’s profitability, revenue growth, three-year return, intersectionality of gender and diversity as well as year-over-year changes in the number of female executives at the company.

Once all data is confirmed, a weighted methodology is applied to create the benchmark. Each company is then assigned a score and applied a final screen to the top quintile. The result: the Women Lead Here benchmark.

FAQs

What is the Women Lead Here benchmark?

It is an annual benchmark of female representation at the executive levels of approximately 500 of Canadian corporations with revenues greater than $50 million.

What is the Women Lead Here event?

The annual Women Lead Here event is a forum for networking and conversation on female executive leadership. All Women Lead Here honourees are invited to attend. The 2024 Women Lead Here in-person event will take place at The Globe and Mail Centre on April 8, 2024.

For event details, including sponsorship opportunities, please contact marketing@globeandmail.com

My company’s executive ranks consist of 30% female-identifying individuals. Why is it not on the ranking?

The percentage of female-identifying executives at a company is one (large) part of the weighted methodology used to create the benchmark. The methodology also takes into account points such as profitability, revenue growth, three-year return, intersectionality of gender and diversity, and past performance on the benchmark (where applicable).

Can companies apply to be a part of the benchmark?

No, there is no application process for the Women Lead Here benchmark.

What is the eligibility criteria?

The program research team screens the top 500 companies listed on Canadian exchanges with at least $50 million in revenue.

Is there a cost for companies included in the benchmark?

No.

Where can I see the benchmark?

You can view the benchmark and the associated editorial coverage here.