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
ISS Seeks Feedback on Proposed 2026 Policy Changes (U.S. & Global Markets)
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has released proposed updates to its 2026 U.S. Benchmark Voting Policies, along with revisions to global policies that will impact Canadian issuers, particularly around director independence classifications.
Diligent Interviews Kingsdale EVP on Shifting Shareholder Tactics in Canada
Victor Li, Executive Vice President, Governance Advisory at Kingsdale Advisors, spoke with Diligent Market Intelligence about how shareholder activism in Canada is changing course. After a cautious first half of 2025 dominated by settlements, the second half saw activists return to the ballot box, securing board seats through special meeting votes as confidence rebounded.
Navigating the 2025 Proxy Season: Volatility, Proxy Advice, and the Rise of AI
The 2025 proxy season was anything but predictable. From the quiet rise of one-day activist campaigns to AI entering the governance conversation, boards are facing a new era of complexity. Agility, foresight, and courage will define 2026.
When The Stakes Are Highest, Business Leaders Choose Kingsdale
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
* 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.