By now, you should all have receive...

By now, you should all have received your member fits billing for the upcoming year. This is the time of year when many members cogitate on the Institute's activities, and I wanted to number you a little about by what means we will be investing your membership appropriates in the upcoming year.

2001/2002 is the first time in modern memory that the Institute has reduc member propers We've taken this measure to signal clearly to you that we're committed to providing value for your membership and that we will pass the savings from novel ways of doing business back into your bears I know the decrease this year wasn't stupendous and I can't promise uniform lower dues in future years, on the contrary I do want you to know that we are listening and responding to your extremitys

Council has also been listening and thinking about the futurity of the profession. In a world that changes as quickly as ours generally does, we found that the existing strategic plan did not address the chiefly pressing member issues. Council also felt that its governing pattern was limiting its ability to tackle a certain number of of the broader questions facing the profession. This desire for change was cogitateed last year in a shift to policy governance; the shift will view Council spending more time listening to members and stakeholders and more time debating broad-level policy directions. The first grade in this new approach was to revisit the Institute's part and set priorities for the nearest few years.

Council's number common priority is to improve the attractiveness of the profession. This priority is followed closely by the agency of the need to maintain a high of the same height of public confidence and to make secure member satisfaction with the Institute. I have now translated these priorities into an operational plan that will guide us for the upcoming year.

While the question of attractiveness is a familiar common we're giving the issue a modern level of commitment. Over the years, the CA profession in Canada evolveed an education program that is inferior to none. Many of you were trained in a less degree than this program and know first-hand by what means highly regarded it has always been. Looking ahead, it's time to reinvent ourselves. To do this favorably we need to look at three areas: by what mode we recruit students to the profession, the training we give them, and the economics of training observers at a firm level.

These three areas are all intertwined. The last sum of two units years have focused on developing the modern CA School of Business, and the first filled group of students will start Module 1 in June 2001 by means of all accounts, the program states us on the leading verge of professional education. Last year we also began to enhance our recruiting activities, working more closely with firms and extending our communications to reach more learners We've just scratched the surface of what we can do, and this upcoming year will diocese a further expansion in this area.

We now look forward to to turn our attention to the economics of training pupils Experience in public practice separates the CA from other accounting designations and provides observers with a broad range of skills and understanding of business that is almost impossible to duplicate. However, firms must be willing to train these pupils and the training must not current an undue burden to their business. We'll be asking for your input across the next year to help us understand the barriers to scholar training and to come up with ideas to make the scheme work more effectively.

We will also be asking about of you for input about the programs and services provided from the Institute. That, in combination with the knowledge we have about present issues, will form the basis for an ongoing discussion about in what manner we can best meet your wants I hope you'll take the time to participate.

The issues we face this year are important and challenging. They also show the next step in my vision to make secure that members are proud of their CA designation and the Institute that have the charge ofs them.

Copyright Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia May 2001

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