How many associations are there in canada

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Vancouver , Edmonton , Calgary and Winnipeg and other large urban areas also have significant concentrations. Several Canadian associations owe their origins to foreign parents, particularly American or British.

When Canadian membership in foreign associations increased to a significant number, members withdrew from their parent group to form their own associations with headquarters in Canada. In addition, several international associations such as the International Air Transport Association have their headquarters in Canada.

Many Canadian labour unions are affiliated with international unions headquartered in the US; however, the percentage of international union membership in Canada has significantly decreased as membership in national unions has correspondingly increased, continuing a year trend as new national unions and independent local organizations were organized in Canada.

By , international union membership had fallen from two-thirds of all union membership in Canada to 29 per cent, and national union representation rose from 21 per cent to 57 per cent. By , more than four million Canadians belonged to a union. Industry associations provide valuable peer-to-peer support. A study published by Statistics Canada found that innovative firms refer to industry associations almost 10 times more frequently than federal government research institutes and up to 4.

The proliferation of associations is partially a result of the growth in population, the expansion and diversification of the economy , and greatly increased government activity, especially in health care and social services , as well as the desire for communication with others who share common interests.

There have been various attempts to classify associations into types according to purpose, function and structure. No classification has been satisfactory because of the diversity in membership, objectives, structure, methods of operation and concerns. One classification makes a distinction between those associations that function primarily for the benefit of the public charitable organizations and those that carry on their activities primarily for the benefit of their members membership organizations.

Another distinguishes between corporate-type and federation-type organizations. The latter may bring together associations devoted to the same subject, or to several different subjects. It is also possible to classify associations according to their principal activity. Incorporation is often advantageous or necessary for non-profit corporations to carry out certain activities.

The principal advantages of incorporation as a non-profit corporation without share capital are that it provides greater continuity and permanency for the organization, frees members from liability for the debts and obligations of the corporation, and facilitates certain activities such as the holding of real estate.

Such corporations must be conducted without pecuniary gain for the members. Federal non-profit corporations in Canada include many of the large charitable and membership organizations and virtually all the boards of trade and chambers of commerce incorporated under the Boards of Trade Act.

For associations whose activities are within a single locality or province, provincial incorporation as a non-profit corporation is sufficient. Each province has its own requirements and procedures for incorporation. The board of directors of an incorporated non-profit corporation manages the corporation's business and affairs. The board is legally responsible for adhering to the corporation constitution and bylaws, for making policy to further the attainment of its stated goals and objectives, and for appointing the chief executive officer.

A small group of board members, including the officers, constitutes the executive committee, which sits between board meetings to make decisions on behalf of the board. The usual officers of an association are the president, vice-president, treasurer and secretary.

The officers may be selected by the membership or appointed by the board, and their duties are set out in the bylaws or established by the board. The chief executive officer or executive director the title may vary performs duties assigned by the board of directors. The CSLA is a volunteer-driven organization and operates through its board-approved committees.

Our model keeps the composition of committees quite small members, ideally, plus a chair and is based on geographic representation and a variety of skills and experience. The committee is responsible for setting directions and strategies, but the tasks and actions associated with the committee are delegated to volunteers who join working groups for a short, predetermined period of time. This committee model has been in place for a number of years, and the association credits its high member engagement to this participation structure.

Because the CSLA has had its virtual model in place since , with a membership and Board accustomed to working in this virtual environment, the pandemic did not really disrupt our workflow.

Other than a short two- to three-week period when people were setting up and getting accustomed to their new home work environment, the CSLA was, for the most part, able to continue its operations— except, of course, our annual Congress, which had been scheduled for June in Calgary.

Its cancellation was met with great disappointment, but tremendous support and understanding from the membership. A number of the committee and council meetings scheduled to be held during the Congress were held virtually, but keynote were speakers cancelled, registrations were refunded, and session speakers were cancelled with a few staying on who were interested in giving their presentations via webinar.

Ceremonial events were deferred to , as our award winners and Fellows-elect preferred in-person celebrations amongst their colleagues. Our Congress planned to go ahead as a hybrid model, where delegates can choose to participate in-person or virtually. It is perhaps the uncertainty created by the pandemic which has posed the greatest challenge for the CSLA.

When will it all end? Can we re-book our in-person Board meetings? Will our May Congress go ahead? If not, what are the things we, as an association, can do to replace the last vestiges of in-person, human-contact events? And will those alternative models be as engaging? In keeping with our tradition of all in-person meetings being centered on the annual Congress, our AGM was almost exclusively held as an event within another event.

We often struggled to ensure a quorum, with many members participating by proxy. This year, however, we ran a webinar-style, virtual AGM in June. We were unsure about the turnout.