The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the governing body behind the annual Academy Awards, has invited a record 683 artists and executives to join its “class of 2016,” including 24 Canadians.

Overall, 283 international members from 59 countries were invited to join the Academy. The 24 invited Canadians include actors Adam Beach, Bruce Greenwood and Rachel McAdams, and directors Xavier Dolan, Mary Harron, Deepa Mehta and Patricia Rozema.

Irish-Canadian Emma Donoghue was invited to join the writers branch of the Academy, while other invited members include casting director Dierdre Bowen, eOne CEO Darren Throop, designer Patrice Vermette, editor Mary Stephen and NFB executive producer Anita Lee.

While certainly the Academy’s largest group of inductees, the class is also its most diverse. When no actors of colour were nominated for an Oscar last year, for the second year in a row, the Academy faced intense backlash – most notably in the form of the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag.

This year, 46% of invited members are women and 41% are people of colour. If every invited member accepts, the Academy’s overall membership will increase to 27% women (from 25%) and 11% people of colour (from 8%).

In addition to the Oscars, the Academy also runs the Governors Awards and the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting; last year, Canadian scribe Anthony Grieco was selected for one of the Nicholl Fellowships.