As we prepare for our Annual General Meeting, I find myself reflecting on the last 18 months and all that we have been able to achieve. I know that it can be challenging to find the time to use all that we have to offer, but I encourage you to provide your opinion on an issue, participate in a professional development event, and use our resources (better yet – contribute to them).

Here are the key accomplishments for 2014 and what you can expect for the remainder of 2015:

We Represented IROs’ Views on Public Policy

• We continued to meet with regulators and various stakeholders to advocate for a reduced early warning reporting threshold of 5%, down from 10%.

• We submitted five comment papers on: Aequitas Innovations Inc. and Aequitas Neo Exchange Inc. as an Exchange; Women on Boards and in Senior Management (two times); Proxy Advisory Firms; and Canada Business Corporations Act.

• We hosted 51 professional development events between National and the Chapters, all aimed at keeping our members up-to-date on the changing role of investor relations and the evolving capital markets. Many of these were available via live or archived webcasts, making professional development available to all members across Canada, at any time.

• We hosted two free-to-members webinars; on Liquidity and Trading Dynamics and Job Hunting Bootcamp for Today’s Economy.

• We issued four IR Backgrounders/IR Briefs on: Gender Diversity and Board Renewal Mechanisms; Social Media; Equity Crowdfunding; and Advance Notice By-laws.

• We published six issues of IR leader and six issues of IR focus.

• With the successful completion of the third CIRI/Ivey Investor Relations Certification Program and the certification exam that followed, 12 students were awarded the CPIR designation. There are now 53 CPIRs, representing 10% of our membership.

We Introduced New Member Resources Aimed at Making the IRO’s Job Easier

• We introduced IR directions, IR research to establish benchmarks and identify trends.

• We launched an IR eLibrary, a repository of sample IR documents contributed by IROs.

Where Do We Go From Here?

We will continue to focus on what is core to the organization – advocacy, education and resources. In addition to the usual benefits CIRI members expect from us, we will continue to develop our new offerings. On advocacy, we will introduce semi-annual Issues Committee webinars to keep our members current on regulatory issues and provide them with an opportunity to voice opinions directly to the regulators. On education, we will host two free-to-member webinars. And on resources, we will conduct several more IR directions surveys, further populate the IR eLibrary and issue CIRI’s IR Compensation & Responsibilities Survey.

By taking advantage of all that CIRI has to offer, you will expand your knowledge, build your network and inspire others in the profession.

Enjoy the summer!