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
Case Study: Winning an “Unwinnable” Proxy Fight
LabGold faced an activist campaign seeking majority control of its board. The company's historical three-year voter turnout was below 25%, the dissident held more than 8% of common shares, and the largest shareholder abstained from the vote. Here's how they won.
Case Study: Managing Closing Risk in the National Bank-CWB $5B M&A
National Bank’s acquisition of Canadian Western Bank required separate approvals from common shareholders, preferred shareholders, and LRCN holders, making transaction certainty a matter of precise execution.
Kingsdale Advisors Ranks #1 in Canada and Top 8 Globally: Bloomberg and LSEG
LSEG's newly published Global Shareholder Activism Review confirms Bloomberg's findings from earlier this month. Kingsdale Advisors ranks #1 in Canada and Top 8 globally for company-side proxy solicitation in FY 2025.
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.