Filing diversity information with Corporations Canada

Effective January 1, 2020, all distributing corporations, including venture issuers, created under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) are required to disclose to their shareholders information on the diversity of their boards of directors and senior management teams.

This information must also be sent to Corporations Canada. For corporations choosing to include diversity information in their proxy circular, the simplest way to send this information to Corporations Canada is to submit the circular through the Online Filing Centre for free.

The exemption from the filing of certain documents does not apply to management documents that are subject to diversity disclosure requirements. Diversity disclosure requirements under the CBCA are broader in scope than what must be disclosed under provincial securities legislation. The exemption has been amended to reflect this difference.