A Surge in Number of Women in Top Posts in Canada - Building Gender Balanced Business

• A list of the top executives in Canada shows that the number of women in top executive jobs at the 100 largest public companies in Canada is at a record high.

• But that record high is only 7.2%.

• The ranking by the executive search firm Rosenzweig & Co. showed a 24% increase in the number of women in top jobs in 2008.

• 36 women hold top officer jobs in Canada, five more than in 2007.

• 69 of the top 100 Canadian companies had not a single woman among their top officers.

• 6 companies (same as in 2007) had more than one woman among their C-suite top ranks: ATCO, Canadian Utilities, Linamar Corp., BMO, Canadian Pacific Railway, and Russel Metals.

• On boards, women made up 21% of all new appointments since 2005, an increase from the 13% in the prior three years. Overall appointments rose 5% in 2008, the first increase since 2005.

• Women now hold as large a share of board seats in Canada as in the United States, with the number of women with board and committee chair roles surging 76% from 2004.

CNW press release