Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, the President and CEO of VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail), received an award on September 14th during the Women and Boards recognition gala. He was honoured in the CEO category for his outstanding contributions to advancing the role of women in corporate governance since his appointment as the President and CEO of VIA Rail in May 2014.

“It is with humility and gratitude that I accept this great honour today from Women and Board”, said Yves Desjardins-Siciliano. “At VIA Rail, we firmly believe that women should be promoted and deserve the same treatment as their male counterparts.”

“I salute the tenacity of women who fought to have their rights recognized”, added Mr. Desjardins-Siciliano. “When VIA Rail was created almost 40 years ago, there were very few women in the railway industry. Today, our Board of Directors is led by a woman and half our Board members are women. Three of the eight members of our management team are women, and the most important project in the history of our company, the project to develop dedicated passenger tracks, is being led by a woman. These appointments and responsibilities are a tangible recognition of the commitment, the determination, the ambition, and, of course, the talent of these women.”

VIA Rail has positioned itself as a Canadian leader in terms of diversity in governance and its Board of Directors achieved gender parity in 2014. Three of the eight members of the Management Committee are women, and 30% of senior managers within the company are women.

Women and Boards, also known as La Gouvernance au Féminin, is a non-for-profit organization founded in 2010 to support women in their leadership development, career enhancement and access to board seats.

(Source: VIA Rail)