Representation in senior leadership positions

Proportion of specified populations occupying leadership roles, including elected officers, ministers, administrators of the justice system, and senior management and senior leadership positions held in federal, provincial, Indigenous and municipal governments and in the private sector (e.g., CEOs, board chairs).

This indicator is derived from a number of different sources and is reported for populations including but not limited to women and men—including transgender women and men—and non-binary people, racialized groups, Indigenous persons and persons with a disability.

Key information on the aforementioned selected populations by occupation is available from the Census of Population. The census asks for each household member's occupation and instructs respondents to be specific in their answer.

Data on occupation for some selected populations are also available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Data sources external to Statistics Canada also provide information to inform this indicator, including, but not limited to:

• House of Commons Canada: members of parliament, ministry (cabinet), parliamentary secretaries, party leaders and other house officers;
• Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada (FJA): judges;
• Corporations Returns Act (CRA): directors and officers on boards;
• Band Governance Management System (BGMS): First Nation band councils and Chiefs in First Nation communities.

• Census of Population
• House of Commons Canada
• Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada (FJA)
• Labour Force Survey (LFS)
• Corporations Returns Act (CRA)
• Band Governance Management System (BGMS)
• Police Administration Survey (PAS)

For products related to representation in senior leadership positions, including data tables, data visualizations, articles, and other product types see Analytical releases: Representation in senior leadership positions or view all analytical releases.

This indicator aligns with the following frameworks:

• Canadian Indicator Framework (CIF) for the Sustainable Development Goals
  • CIF Indicator 5.2.1 – Proportion of leadership roles held by women
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
  • SDG Goal 5 – Gender equality
    • SDG Indicator 5.5.1 – Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
    • SDG Indicator 5.5.2 – Proportion of women in managerial positions
• Social inclusion indicators for Canada's ethnocultural groups
  • Representation in decision-making positions
    • Workers in all management occupations
    • Workers in senior management occupations
    • Workers in specialized middle management occupations
• Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS)
  • FSDS Goal 5 – Champion gender equality
    • FSDS Contextual Indicator – Persistence and representation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs
    • FSDS Contextual Indicator – Proportion of leadership roles held by women
• Gender Results Framework (GRF)
  • Leadership and democratic participation
    • GRF Indicator 3.1.1 – Proportion of employees in management positions who are women, by management level
    • GRF Indicator 3.2.1 – Proportion of businesses majority-owned by women, by business size
    • GRF Indicator 3.3.1 – Proportion of board members who are women, by type of board
    • GRF Indicator 3.4.1 – Proportion of seats held by women in national Parliament
    • GRF Indicator 3.4.2 – Proportion of seats held by women in local governments (provincial, territorial, municipal, First Nations Band Councils)
    • GRF Indicator 3.4.3 – Proportion of ministerial positions held by women in federal-provincial-territorial governments and Chiefs in First Nations communities who are women
    • GRF Indicator 3.5.1 – Proportion of federally appointed judges (federal and provincial courts) who are women
    • GRF Indicator 3.5.2 – Proportion of law enforcement, security and intelligence officers who are women, by rank