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
Glass Lewis 2024 Proxy Voting Policy Guidelines
On November 16, Glass Lewis released its 2024 Benchmark Policy Guidelines. These guidelines will take effect for shareholder meetings scheduled on or after January 1, 2024.
Glass Lewis Publishes Results of Client Policy Survey 2023
On November 9, Glass Lewis released the results of its inaugural Client Policy Survey that it conducted in summer with market participants to inform its annual benchmark voting policy guidelines update.
ISS Publishes Results of 2023 Policy Survey
On October 31, ISS published the results of its annual global benchmark policy survey it conducted with market participants as part of its annual policy development process.
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.