FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Analysis documents a striking cross-border divide — and a meaningful domestic one — in how asset owners and managers vote on ESG proposals
April 15, 2026 – OxProx today published the ‘Canada Supplement‘ to its Proxy Voting Divergence Report, revealing significant gaps between how Canadian asset owners vote on ESG-related proposals compared to both Canadian and US asset managers – divides the report calls the “North American Divide” and the “Canadian Divide,” respectively. Published in partnership with Kaivalya Research, the Supplement draws on 629,000 voting records from 28 Canadian institutional investors, including 8 of Canada’s largest asset owners and 20 of Canada’s largest asset managers, all drawn from the full Report’s dataset of 4.57 million vote records covering the proxy year ending June 30, 2025.
Key Findings:
A Stark North American Divide – The most dramatic finding is a wide and consistent gap between Canadian asset owners and US asset managers, reflecting fundamentally different stewardship philosophies across the 49th Parallel. Canadian asset owners vote FOR ESG-related proposals at substantially higher rates than US asset managers across most categories examined:
- Social Capital (Shareholder-Led): +39.6 percentage points (pp)
- Supply Chain (Shareholder-Led): +34.9 pp
- Environment (Shareholder-Led): +28.4 pp
- Governance (Shareholder-Led): +19.3 pp
- Climate Change (Mixed): +18.9 pp
- Human Capital (Shareholder-Led): +18.1 pp
A Canadian Divide, Too – Even within Canada’s borders, the data reveal a meaningful divergence. Canadian asset owners vote FOR shareholder proposals at significantly higher rates than Canadian asset managers across several categories — a pattern the report calls the “Canadian Divide.” While less stark than the cross-border gap, it is consistent and significant:
- Social Capital: (Shareholder-Led) +22.7 pp
- Governance (Shareholder-Led): +14.9 pp
- Supply Chain (Shareholder-Led): +14.5 pp
- Environment (Shareholder-Led): +7.6 pp
- Human Capital (Shareholder-Led): +6.8 pp
- Climate Change (Mixed): +5.4 pp
Why It Matters
When asset managers vote against the preferences of the asset owners they represent, the consequences can be significant: stewardship efforts are undermined, beneficiary interests may not be served, and asset owners’ market influence is diluted. Despite these stakes, voting misalignment often goes undetected – largely because identifying it requires aggregating and standardizing large volumes of fragmented data across multiple sources.
Download the Canada Supplement here: https://oxprox.org/canada-supplement-to-the-proxy-voting-divergence-report/
Read the full Proxy Voting Divergence Report here: https://oxprox.org/proxy-voting-divergence-report/
Spokesperson Statements:
- “Proxy voting is one of the most powerful tools an investor has to hold companies accountable, but that power is diluted when votes are cast in ways that don’t reflect the intentions of principals whose capital is at stake,” said OxProx CEO Dustyn Lanz. “This report makes the disconnect visible. Across nearly every category we examined, the gap between asset owners and managers is consistent, measurable, and in some cases, remarkably wide. We hope this data starts conversations that lead to better alignment, and ultimately to better outcomes for clients and beneficiaries across the investment landscape.”
- “Proxy voting is one of the most impactful ways asset owners communicate their stewardship priorities to public companies, yet the complexity of ownership structures and voting rights can lead to inconsistent and unclear voting outcomes in practice. This report provides concrete evidence of where proxy voting divergence exists and how significant it can be. It gives investors a stronger foundation to review their proxy voting strategies, strengthen oversight, and better integrate proxy voting into stewardship practice,” said Kelly Hirsch, Founder and President of Kaivalya Research.
About the Proxy Voting Divergence Report
The Proxy Voting Divergence Report examines how asset owners and asset managers vote differently on shareholder proposals – and where those gaps are widest. It is the first report of its kind published by OxProx and draws on 4.57 million vote records from 464 institutional investors headquartered across the US, UK, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, covering the proxy year ending June 30, 2025. The sample covers 48 institutional asset owners and 416 asset managers. The report analyzes voting patterns across 10 ESG categories, with a particular focus on ESG-related proposals where divergence is most pronounced. OxProx undertook this work to validate that voting divergence persists, and to shed light on voting divergence as a step towards improving AO-AM alignment, which OxProx believes can lead to better outcomes for shareholders and society. The report was developed in collaboration with Kaivalya Research.
About OxProx
OxProx is a social venture spun out of Oxford University Innovation, dedicated to amplifying investor stewardship through proxy voting transparency and accountability. We are building the world’s first global, public database of proxy voting records, empowering everyone to see how institutional investors vote on environmental, social, and governance issues at corporate meetings.
OxProx provides data-driven insights to investors, consultancies, NGOs, researchers and other clients whose revenues support the development of the public database. Our database supports stewardship by helping investors benchmark their voting records against peers and identifying alignment gaps with external managers. Learn more at www.oxprox.org
About Kaivalya Research
At Kaivalya Research, we provide rigorous research, analysis, and governance insight to help clients build the systems, frameworks, and processes that support better decisions and outcomes in complex, evolving environments.
We work with asset owners, investment managers, and companies to navigate policy, capital, and stakeholder expectations. Our expertise spans responsible investment, stewardship, governance, and sustainability-related strategies. Through research, analysis, and implementation support, we help investors translate their values, objectives, and commitments into actionable responsible investment policies and engagement strategies across portfolios, while bringing independent perspective and practical support to internal teams. We also help companies better understand investor expectations and focus their efforts where they can have the greatest impact. Learn more at www.kaivalyaresearch.com.
Media Enquiries:
Dustyn Lanz, OxProx CEO: hello[at]oxprox.org
Kelly Hirsch, Kaivalya Founder and President: kellyhirsch[at]kaivalyaresearch.com
