Canada: Executive Remuneration

Effective CEO succession planning requires careful board oversight and strategic preparation. This guide examines the critical role boards play in ensuring smooth leadership transitions and maintaining organizational continuity during periods of executive change.

Canada's Big Six banks and major TSX issuers saw strong shareholder support for incumbent boards and management in their 2026 annual meetings, while facing increased scrutiny over AI governance, capital allocation, and shareholder rights. Though ESG-related proposals declined roughly 30% year-over-year, emerging themes around artificial intelligence oversight and meeting format transparency signal evolving investor priorities in the Canadian governance landscape.

On February 24, 2025, Fasken published its third annual ESG Disclosure Study, offering insights into the environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") strategies of 81 publicly listed companies...

This article will outline the director's obligations concerning ESG oversight and provide a framework that Boards can utilize to identify and evaluate ESG risks.

These new U.S. rules may eventually influence Canadian rules or practice in the future.

The new prospectus exemption available to public companies listed on a Canadian stock exchange (the "New Exemption") comes into force on November 21, 2022.

TCI Fund Management Limited recently successfully submitted a climate change-related shareholder proposal to Canadian Pacific Railway Limited to be voted on at CP's upcoming 2021 annual general meeting of shareholders.

Bill C-97, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 19, 2019 and other measures (Bill C-97) received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019.

In July 2020, the Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce issued a Consultation Report seeking input from market participants on a number of proposals aimed at modernizing Ontario's capital markets.