Engaging Risk Professionals

At its annual planning meeting in Saskatoon in January 2011, the RIMS Canada Council (RCC) reviewed its two-year strategic plan and re-committed itself to meeting the plan’s objectives.

The strategic themes of the RCC are effective volunteer leadership; strong and engaged membership, aided in part by offering continuing education to members; raising the profile of risk management in Canada; and organizing “the” risk management conference in Canada.

We are enthusiastic about the progress the RCC has made toward our goals in 2010. And we feel confident the building blocks are in place to achieve our strategic goals and continue to serve Canada’s risk management community as we move forward.

The RCC is a standing committee of the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. (RIMS). It addresses the Canadian activities and strategic initiatives of RIMS and risk management in Canada through its three subcommittees:  the National Conference Committee, National Education Committee and Communications and External Affairs Committee.

The mandate of the RCC is to serve Canadian RIMS members and the Canadian risk management community, by ensuring the products and services provided by RIMS address the needs of Canadian members and chapters while supporting the Mission and Strategic Plan of RIMS.

Volunteer leadership

To further the goal of effective volunteer leadership, RCC made a concerted effort to re-staff its committees at the beginning of 2011, ensuring representation of the diversity of RIMS members in Canada. Two committees have new chairs. Karin McDonald, director of risk and insurance for Hydro One Networks Inc. in Toronto, is the new chair of the National Conference Committee. Steve Pottle, manager of insurance and risk management at York University in Toronto, now heads up the Communications and External Affairs Committee.

Dave Jackson, director of insurance and risk management at the Saskatchewan School Boards Association in Regina, continues to chair the National Education Committee.

Membership

The RCC made great strides towards the goal of strong and engaged membership in 2010. The year saw a 7% increase in Canadian RIMS membership, and membership increases in each of the 10 Canadian RIMS chapters. The RCC is planning a membership campaign in 2011 to reach a number of different targets.  

Membership is engaged through the 10 RIMS chapters in Canada. Each RCC meeting has a component called a “chapter roundtable,” in which representatives from each chapter discuss challenges and offer best practices and solutions to help each other with programming and chapter management.

Risk management education

Year 2011 will feature a new opportunity for current Canadian Risk Management designation holders to upgrade to the CRM-E, indicating knowledge and training in enterprise risk management (ERM). The new CRM-E designation was created to demonstrate a risk manager has training in ERM fundamentals as well as in risk assessment, risk control and risk financing.

RIMS also developed a new three-day workshop called Enterprise-Wide Risk Management:  Developing and Implementing. CRM holders who take the new course and pass an online exam developed specifically for Canadians will be able to upgrade their CRM designation to the CRM-E.

The first offering of this new workshop in Canada will be in Toronto on June 1-3, 2011. The workshop will also be held from Oct. 17-19, 2011 in Edmonton. Other professional development workshops scheduled in Canada for 2011 include two programs to be held before the RIMS Annual Conference in Vancouver this year. The first is called Developing a Risk Management Program for Your Organization. The second is Business Continuity/Disaster Planning and Management.

Finally, the workshop schedule is rounded out with Integrating ERM and Strategic Planning in Montreal in June. Also, Harnessing ERM to Tap Risk Appetite, Anticipate Emerging Risks and Limit Future Shock will follow the RIMS Canada Conference in Ottawa in September 2011.

In addition to in-person professional development workshops, RIMS now offers a wide range of electronic options for professional development, including Webinars, podcasts and coursecasts that are easily accessible to Canadian members. The three CRM courses are also available online: in English from the University of Toronto, and in French from Université du Québec – TELUQ.

2011 RIMS Canada Conference

The RIMS Canada Conference will be held in Ottawa this year, from Sept. 18-21. The theme of this year’s conference, Capital ConneXions: Where Vision and Action Intersect will be explored through keynote addresses and timely concurrent sessions, as well as in the Exhibit Hall and at networking events (Please see the profile of the RIMS Canada Conference co-chairs Kim Hunton and Barbara Carscadden on Page 12).