CIQS strategic plan and governance structure THIS ARTICLE EXPLAINS, IN A VERY HIGH LEVEL, A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE CIQS STRATEGIC PLAN AND REVIEWS THE CIQS GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE WHICH HAS BEEN SETUP TO ALIGN WITH THE OBJECTIVES OF OUR STRATEGIC PLAN AND WHICH OPERATES FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL DESIGNATION HOLDERS ACROSS CANADA. NOTICE TO ALL DESIGNATION HOLDERS RE MEMBERSHIP In accordance with the CIQS strategic plan to foster more consistency within our organization and strengthen our standards, commencing April 1, 2015, CIQS (national) will oversee all membership matters including assessment of new applications, diary reviews, etc. previously undertaken by each Affiliate. We are currently working with the affiliates to transition these membership activities to CIQS and the affiliates are in the process of transferring the information collected at the affiliate office to CIQS head office.
Individuals should contact the CIQS Membership Co-ordinator, Sophie Chin You at membership@ciqs.org with any requests regarding their specific file. If you have any general questions regarding this transition, please do not hesitate to contact Lois Metcalfe, Executive Director at execdir@ciqs.org. Change in law and strategic plan In 2009, the Government of Canada adopted the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act and required all federal non-share capital corporations (including CIQS) to transition to this new law by October 2014, or be dissolved. CIQS engaged legal counsel specializing in ‘Not for Profit’ corporate law to assist in implementing the changes needed to ensure CIQS was not dissolved. Upon reviewing the CIQS governance structure, legal counsel asked a fundamental question: whether CIQS ought to be an association of affiliates (otherwise known as an association of associations), or an association of members. After considerable discussions over many months, the CIQS National Council decided to become a true association of affiliates, with each affiliate having one vote, and one nominee to the CIQS
14 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Spring 2015
National Council table, in an attempt to move to a structure that encourages a national approach to decision making as CIQS decisions typically have an impact across Canada (rather than an association of individual members model where each individual has one vote, which is a structure that could be easily manipulated to favour the interests of Designation Holders in territories with many members, over territories with fewer members). This decision was not taken lightly – it was made in conjunction with the decision to embrace a new strategic plan that is based on the core belief that a coordinated, professional and national approach to key CIQS activities will enhance the reputation and credibility of all Designation Holders across Canada, and at the same time reduce administrative costs for all Designation Holders across Canada. CIQS-Quebec participated throughout these discussions, and agreed to the strategic plan and governance changes, which were ratified by a unanimous vote at the 2013 AGM. Our governance structure now reflects this strategic plan, key aspects of which we summarize below:
