Governing Policies

Policy:

The Chartered Governance Institute of Canada Code of Conduct is comprehensive in scope, practical in application and calls for high moral and ethical standards. This Code of Conduct is meant to serve not only as a guide to the profession, but also to provide the assurance of CGI of Canada’s concern for the public that its members serve. It is a mark of a profession that there is a voluntary assumption, by those who comprise it, of ethical principles which are aimed at both protection of the public and at achieving orderly and competent conduct within the profession. It is to these purposes that this Code of Conduct is directed.

In the performance of their duties, all Corporate Secretaries should:

1. Conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the good reputation of the profession of the Chartered Secretary and of the Chartered Governance Institute of Canada, its Charter, and By-laws.
2. Seek always to do their best to carry out their duties in accordance with the requirements of the laws and regulations of Canada and/or applicable provincial law or any other territory in which their organization maintains operations.
3. Strive for professional competency and at all times exhibit a high degree of skill and proficiency in the performance of their official duties.
4. Adopt an objective attitude when dealing with regulatory authorities, and provide such information to them as required by law.
5. Be impartial in their dealings with shareholders and directors and, without fear or favour, use all reasonable efforts to ensure that the directors and the organization comply with the relevant legislation, contractual obligations and other relevant requirements.
6. Be aware of all regulatory reporting and other regulatory requirements imposed by the laws under which the organization is constituted.
7. Insist on the maintenance of proper accounting records, and books of account in accordance with the requirements of the relevant corporate laws and any subsequent Government regulations governing the conduct of organizations.
8. Have a clear understanding of the aims and objectives of the organization, and of the powers and restrictions as provided in the constituting documents of the organization.
9. At all times, strive to assist the organization towards its proper objectives within the tenets of ethical responsibility, efficiency, and administrative effectiveness.
10. Be knowledgeable of the laws and by-laws of meetings, meeting procedures, particularly quorum requirements, voting procedures and proxy provisions and be responsible for the proper administration of meetings.
11. Be present or be represented at meetings and do not allow themselves or their representatives to be excluded or withdrawn from those meetings in a way that prejudices their professional responsibilities as secretaries of their organization.
12. Assist and advise the directors to ensure at all times that the organization maintains an effective system of internal controls, for keeping proper records including the register of Shareholders (Members), Directors and Officers and accounting records.
13. Disclose to the Board of Directors or an appropriate public officer any information that they reasonably believe suggests that a fraud is being or is likely to be committed by the organization or by any of its directors or employees.
14. At all times, exercise the utmost good faith and act both responsibly and with honesty and with reasonable care and due diligence in the exercise of their powers and the discharge of the duties of their office.
15. Neither direct for their own advantage any business opportunity that the organization is pursuing, nor use or disclose to any party any confidential information obtained by reason of their office for their own advantage or that of others.

Policy:

Effective January 1, 2012, all Associates and Fellows of the Institute, except those who have retired, are required to undertake a minimum of twenty (20) hours of professional development annually in order to remain members in good standing. This activity must consist of at least five (5) hours of structured activities; the balance may be unstructured activities. Chartered members are asked to make an annual declaration that they have met the minimum number of CPD hours required as part of the renewal process.

Members who meet the following criteria can complete and submit an application for Non-Practicing Membership to the National Office which will result in a reduction in annual membership dues. Apply now.

P.I.P.E.D.A. Compliance: Both the Chartered Governance Institute of Canada and its management company respect your privacy. We also strive to protect the confidentiality of any personal information you may give us. We'd like you to know (a) the circumstances under which we collect information, (b) the kind of information we collect, and (c) how we may use that information.

Collection: CGI of Canada collects personal information about the member. Depending on the category of membership, CGI of Canada may collect some or all of the following information:

Name, address, telephone and fax numbers, email address, university and graduation year, postgraduate education and graduation year, category of membership, accreditations, and professional membership(s). This allows CGI of Canada to manage student records, send out membership renewal information and process payments.

Volunteer and work history, and any other information you may voluntarily provide on your CV for purposes of press releases, the CGI of Canada on-line job-search and potential director databases, and the generic on-line membership database.

You may provide us with information on-line, in a telephone conversation, or through a completed printed form. The information you provide will be securely stored either on a computer or as part of a hard-copy filing system.

1. On the Internet: We do not use cookies (small, encrypted text files that contain information about you) to track your usage of our site, although we do use cookies if you enter the members only area of the website to keep you logged in. Cookies so used are deleted when you navigate away from the site or close your browser.

In the case of event and student/course registration, we will collect only such information as is required to (a) ensure that your confirmation is sent to you at the address of your choosing, (b) that your student records are maintained properly, and (c) that your payment is processed correctly. Credit card information provided on-line would be processed over a secure link with our credit card provider.

As part of the event registration process, we will ask you if you want your information to be in the on-site event program. You would be free to opt in or out. If you opted in, we would maintain your contact information in a database solely used for that purpose. This database would not be shared, given, sold or rented to any other party under any circumstances. It would reside on our computer, and may only be accessed by a Taylor employee who has (a) been authorized to do so and (b) has a password issued by our IT department.

Upon annual renewal, we will ask you if you wish your contact information to be in the CGI of Canada Membership Directory and searchable on-line database. Again, you would be free to opt in or out.

2. By phone, mail or in person: Personal data is collected only by our membership, education or special events departments, and is maintained on a secure server. This information would be used only to facilitate event registration and administration. No data collected would be sold, rented, or given to third parties.

All payments would be processed either through our credit/debit card machine (our accounting department would retain copies only for bank verification/reconciliation) or (for cheques/money orders/cash) deposited directly to bank. Once again, they would be processed securely, and the account information would only be entered into a secure computer or manual database.

Currency of data collected: CGI of Canada, or its management company, AMCES, may contact you requesting updates of data. This will normally be by regular mail or an e-mail directing you to the appropriate website. We do not use third parties to collect this data on our behalf, and you will never be directed to a third-party website for this purpose. If you receive any communication the authenticity of which is doubtful, please contact the CGI of Canada Office immediately.

Privacy Officer: The CGI of Canada has a privacy officer who may be contacted for any concerns, clarifications or possible abuse of the privacy policy. Please direct your communications to:

Chief Privacy Officer,
CGI of Canada
1568 Merivale Road, Suite 739
Ottawa, ON Canada K2G 5Y7

Phone: 613-595-1151; 1-800-501-3440
Fax: 613-595-1155
E-mail: info@charteredgovernanceinstitute.ca

The Chartered Governance Institute of Canada (CGIC) values the relationships it has with CGIC members and program participants. This policy outlines the framework for refund and cancellation of CGIC events and memberships by CGIC, CGIC Members, or Non-Member
registrants.

The intent of the Policy is to:

• provide expectations of good intention by CGIC to provide flexible and responsive
  refund options,
• protect CGIC from financial hardship, and
• maintain membership standards.

Refunds and Cancellations for each purchase type are detailed in the attached PDF.

Policy:
To define how the appeal of marks awarded on exams are handled.

Procedure:
Due to the international validation of candidate marks, marks awarded by the Chief Examiner and confirmed by the Assessment Review Panel are final. The decision cannot be appealed.

Students may request a copy of their exam. If additional commentary is required, students are invited to submit their request to the Director of Education in writing within 4 weeks of the result being communicated to the candidate.

Policy:
To set dates on when deferrals must be received, the number of times a module can be deferred as well
as information on resitting exams.

Procedure:
Candidate may defer the sitting of their exam subject to the following guidelines:

• Their membership must be in good standing, i.e.: current with no outstanding issues
• The notice and payment of the deferral is received no later then:
  • April 30 for the June exam session.
  • October 31 for the November exam session.
• The maximum number of times an exam can be deferred three (3)

An exam resit fee is available to candidates subject to all of the following conditions:

• The candidate previous attempted the exam and failed; and,
• The maximum number of exam attempts or the maximum number of years to complete the program, as outlined in the Candidate Guidance Policy, has not been reached.

Deferral and Resit fees will be set annually and posted on the Chartered Governance Institute of Canada’s website.

The Policy:

To set what occurs in situations where an individual is scheduled to sit for an exam and does not show up to take it. 

The Procedure:

1. Candidates who are scheduled to write an exam are reminded of the date(s) of the exam(s) they are scheduled to write and the consequences if they do not defer.
2. Failure to show up for a scheduled exam will result in a forfeiture of any module or resit fees paid.
3. Candidates should refer to the Exam Deferral and Resit Policy for details on deferring their exam.
4. Individuals may submit a request for reconsideration. Said request must be made in writing to the Director of Education within ten (10) business days of being informed of their forfeiture of fees. The request should include as much detail as possible on the reason for the no show. 

Policy:

The Chartered Governance Institute of Canada (CGIC) aims for all its candidates to receive fair and equitable treatment in the assessment process. To this end, adjustments can be made in individual cases to allow candidates to sit the exam under special arrangements. Decisions can also be made during or after the exam to address problems occurring during the exam which affected a whole group of candidates.

Download Policy in PDF format

Policy:
To outline what will occur if an exam is written and submitted by a candidate to an invigilator/proctor but is lost prior to it being received and scanned by the National office.

This will also apply to candidates who submit their exams online/electronically, and due to technological issues that are through no fault of their own, the exam is lost prior to it being received electronically by the National office and saved.

Procedure:
If an exam is lost before it is received and scanned by the National office, and it is confirmed that the candidate wrote the exam, submitted it to the invigilator and the invigilator returned it to the office, the following options will be provided to the candidate:

• Option 1: Be awarded a compensatory pass grade for the module
• Option 2: To sit the module at the next available sitting, at no additional charge.

If Option 1 is selected, the mark of “Compensatory Pass” will be recorded on the candidate’s transcript.

Notification to the candidate of the lost exam and their options will be done at the earliest possible time. The candidate will have 2 weeks upon receipt of notification to confirm which option they wish to select.

Policy:
To provide direction to Chief Examiners when marking scripts that have been submitted in pencil.

Procedure:
It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that exams are written in pen (black or blue).

Any exams written in pencil, or any section of a exam written in pencil, will not be marked and will result in no marks being awarded.

This decision cannot be appealed.

The student will be informed of the decision immediately by the Director of Education.

Policy:
To provide direction to Chief Examiners when marking scripts that cannot be read/understood because of the quality of the handwriting.

Procedure:
It is the responsibility of the student writing the exam to ensure their handwriting is legible so that it can be read by the Chief Examiner.

Every effort will be made by the Chief Examiner to mark the scripts to the best of their ability.

A decision by the Chief Examiner not to award marks due to illegible writing will be noted on the exam paper. If it cannot be read, it cannot get marks.

The decision by the Chief Examiner and confirmed by the ARP is final. The decision cannot be appealed.

Students whose handwriting has been determined to be illegible will be informed of such by the Director of Education.

Policy:
CGIC provides reasonable accommodations to individuals who have documented disabilities (physical, mental or learning impairments) and those with documented religious restrictions or requirements.

Procedure:
Accommodation requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis to ensure equal opportunity for individuals to fully demonstrate their qualifications without altering the nature or level of the qualification being assessed. CGIC’s Education, Training and Candidate Success Committee will consider each case after carefully reviewing the submitted documentation; however, submitting a request does not guarantee receiving accommodation.

Exam Accommodations
Accommodations are provided to ensure that all individuals are treated fairly on all evaluations.

Accommodations may include, but are not limited to:

• Permitting timed rest breaks or sitting breaks during the exam
• Providing enlarged font on the exam question and answer papers
• Allowing a medical device in the examination room, such as an inhaler or diabetic equipment (if not attached to the individual’s body)
• Increasing time permitted for the examination
• Submitting the exam in handwritten format

To request an accommodation, the Candidate Medical Certificate form must be completed and submitted (email is the preferred method) at least 10 weeks before the examination. This allows for sufficient time to review the application and, if necessary, request additional information and receive it from the individual.

CGIC may accept applications up to two weeks before the examination date in exceptional circumstances, such as in the event of an accident or for compassionate reasons. Applications submitted closer to the examination date run the risk of not being processed in time and the granting of any accommodations may not be applicable for the exam session in question.

All costs associated with completion of this application are the responsibility of the candidate.