Canadian proxy contests reaching a vote hit a five-year high, campaign volume declined, but the fights that remained went further and hit harder, and boards with real shareholder relationships came out on top.
Download Kingsdale Advisors' most comprehensive look at what's reshaping Canadian and U.S. boardrooms. Covering July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, the report shows a shareholder landscape that's more fragmented and harder to predict, with more of the voting decision moving in-house with investors themselves.
The in-depth research also examines CEO succession at S&P/TSX Composite companies overthe past three years, and what the difference between planned and reactive transitions reveals about board preparedness.
- Contests reaching a vote hit a five-year high, up 39% year over year.
- Large-cap activist targets more than doubled, from 4% to 9%.
- M&A activism drove 40% of campaigns, above the five-year average.
- Say-on-Pay support reached a five-year high of 93.4%.
- Governance proposals more than doubled to 56.
Latest Insights
Victor Li in Conversation with The Deal by S&P Global
Victor Li spoke with The Deal by S&P Global about key takeaways from Kingsdale's 2026 Proxy Season Review. Activist campaigns fell this year, but more went to a vote than at any point in five years, and the boards that won were the ones that engaged shareholders early.
Download Kingsdale Advisors 2026 Proxy Season Review
The 2026 proxy season proved that preparation matters more than ever. Canadian contests reaching a vote hit a five-year high, campaign volume declined, but the fights that remained went further and hit harder, and boards with real shareholder relationships came out on top.
Event Recap: Inside Kingsdale's 2026 Proxy Season Review Launch
Kingsdale launched its 2026 Proxy Season Review with a panel on "Shareholder Engagement in a New Era" at our Toronto office. Leaders from the OSC, CCGG, Glass Lewis and Kingsdale discussed fragmenting voting models, evolving proxy advisor policies and AI's growing role in issuer-investor engagement.
When The Stakes Are Highest, Business Leaders Choose Kingsdale
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* Source: Bloomberg Global Shareholder Activism League Tables FY2025 and LSEG Global Shareholder Activism Review FY2025.
#2025 and 2026 indicate proxy seasons: July 2024 to June 2026.