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Bring sharper focus to your ESG strategy in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Fasken's 2026 ESG Disclosure Study reveals how Canadian companies are strengthening their sustainability practices, enhancing transparency, and responding to evolving stakeholder expectations. This study surveys 100 companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange, offering insights that can help you assess where your organization stands and support more informed decision-making on emerging Environmental, Social, and Governance priorities.
Environmental
- Many surveyed companies continue to deepen their climate‑related disclosures, with most reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories and maintaining at least one reduction target. Among companies that disclose emissions inventories, a surprisingly large number included Scope 3 emissions.
- However, measurable goals for non‑GHG topics such as biodiversity, water use, waste, and deforestation remain limited.
Social and Indigenous
- Social disclosure continues to encompass factors beyond diversity and inclusion to include discussion regarding community development, employee wellness, philanthropy, and engagement with Indigenous communities.
- Many companies set workforce‑related targets, especially around gender parity and workforce representation.
- Wage‑gap reporting is still largely voluntary and varies significantly in methodology, with most companies focusing on gender‑based gaps. Many do not specify how gaps are calculated.
- A growing number of companies reports under the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, outlining policies, risk assessments, and employee training. But few report on their remediation actions.
- While most companies highlight Indigenous‑focused initiatives, only a minority of these companies, other than those in the natural resources and financial services industries, have formal reconciliation or economic development policies.
Governance
- Nearly all of the surveyed companies included AI-related disclosure and most reported AI-related risk.
- With AI adoption accelerating, many companies are training their boards, adding directors with AI expertise and appointing senior leaders to manage AI-related matters and concerns.
- Boards are taking a more structured role in ESG oversight, with most delegating environmental and social responsibilities to board committees. Nearly 90% of directors across surveyed companies have E, S, or combined ESG expertise.
- ESG factors increasingly influence both short‑term and long‑term executive compensation. Companies are increasingly transparent about their metric selection, target-setting, and payout rationale, often using weighted scorecards to communicate priorities.
- Surveyed companies continued to report using major ESG frameworks including the ISSB Standards, SASB Standards, TCFD Recommendations, and GRI Standards, with a growing number now reporting against all four.
Download the full report for deeper insight into these trends and what they may mean for your organization's ESG strategy, governance structures and risk management priorities.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
