The theme this year is Women Making History Now. As a woman-founded, woman-led firm, WATSON is proud to champion history-making women every day, and this month we’re taking the chance to reflect on the progress we’ve made, and set our sights on the triumphs that are still to come.

Looking Back

Women’s History Month is celebrated in October to commemorate Canadian women being granted the right to vote on October 18, 1929. Get inspired by seeing just how far women have come.

A Seat at the Table

According to Statistics Canada, Canadian women increase representation in the boardroom, particularly in the government, utilities, and finance sectors. Canada and France are leading the pack globally with the highest share of women on their boards.

There are still plenty of seats to fill. As of July 2021, women represent just 23.4% of all directors at TSX companies disclosing the number of women directors on their boards, per Osler’s Diversity Disclosure Practices report. And there’s progress to be made in the executive suite too; did you know that no Indigenous women have ever been CEO of a Fortune 500 company?

Here’s What We Can Do NOW

Continue our work to inform the perception of what makes a great leader and elevate more women into leadership positions. These links might help:

• Knowing history is key to reducing unconscious bias. Watch Jessica Nordell, author of The End of Bias: A Beginning, explain the cumulative effect of unconscious bias over a person’s lifetime and ways to address it.
• Go over our tips from International Women’s Day 2021 on how to approach your next executive or director search, and from 2020 on how to elevate diversity and inclusion in the boardroom.
• Read the Institute for Governance’s policy paper The Status of Women Corporate Directors in Canada for 5 major recommendations to increase the number of qualified women on corporate boards. (Spoiler: Number 3 is the use of professional recruitment firms).
• Create an inclusive boardroom and enable the women on your board to thrive.
• Check out this infographic from Statistics Canada on diversity among board directors and officers.

For WATSON, Women’s History Month is significant not only because of the number of women at our firm but also because it reminds us that our work matters. This month, join us to celebrate the achievements women have made as we continue to push towards gender equality in and out of the boardroom.