More CAs rise to top

The percentage of Canadian corporate  executives who are CAs is on the rise. Each year the CICA reviews the positions of chair, CEO, president, CFO, COO and corporate secretary at companies in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business 1000 to determine how many of the top spots are held by CAs. The results indicate more CAs than ever are in the senior ranks and the trend shows these numbers are increasing.

In 2004, 22% of top officers at ROB 1000 companies were CAs, while 62% of the companies had at least one CA in these six positions (up from 59% the previous year). As usual, the CA designation is most critical for CFOs (56.8%) and this percentage has crept up over the past four years (55.1% in 2003; 54.5% in 2002 and 53% in 2001). The rising importance of the CA designation is also seen in other senior leadership positions. CAs accounted for 10.2% of chairpersons, up from 8.8% in 2003; 10.2% of CEOs, up from 9.2%; and 10.8% of presidents, up from 10.2%. The COO and secretary are the only two positions that did not see an increase in CAs over the previous year: 8.1% of COOs (down from 8.7% in 2003) and 17.5% of secretaries (down from 18.2% in 2003).

The rise in the number of CAs might be partially explained by another finding. The 10.8% of companies with a CA listed as their top officer consistently perform better on several key measures, including one-year and five-year return on equity and capital, as well as return on assets.

John Tabone is CICA's manager of innovation