Canada lags behind peer countries on female representation in management: report

Photo: The Canadian Press

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce says women leaders in the corporate world still face barriers, with significant gaps in business ownership, representation and compensation. Women walk in the financial district in Toronto on Wednesday, September 29, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Evan Buhler

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce says female leaders in the corporate world still face barriers, with significant gaps in business ownership, representation and compensation.

In a new report Tuesday, the organization says Canada lags behind nearly half of its OECD peers in its share of female managers.

While women have made strides in the overall workforce, holding almost half of all jobs in 2023, the report says the same cannot be said for higher-ranking positions.

It says that in 2023, the share of women in management — including middle management — was 35 per cent.

The higher up the ladder, the fewer women the report found, with women making up less than one quarter of boardroom seats in corporate Canada.

The report says that there's still a pay gap as well, with women earning 88 cents to the dollar in management occupations compared with men in 2023.