Canadian Chambers Awarded Accreditation at Annual Chamber Meeting
St. John’s, NL – September 19th, 2011 At the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting held recently in St. John’s, NL, community chambers were recognized for attaining chamber accreditation.
“We are proud to recognize these chambers as examples of effective, well-managed and stable organizations making a difference in communities across the country – keeping ‘the voice of business’ loud and strong” said Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
To achieve accreditation, a chamber must meet minimum standards in critical areas, including areas of governance, operations, membership programming, policy and advocacy and strategic planning.
Accreditation is aimed at continuous operational improvement and standards of local chambers of commerce and an elevation of their profile across the country as effective and well-managed organizations.
“Accreditation is the acknowledgment that member chambers have been successfully evaluated against rigorous national standards of policy, service and performance,” said Graham Starmer, President of the Chamber Accreditation Council of Canada. Starmer continued “that this brings the number of accredited chambers to more than 70 in Canada.”
Developed by a team of chamber executives, in conjunction with provincial and territorial chambers and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the accreditation program is operated by an arms-length organization called the Chamber Accreditation Council of Canada (CACC). The CACC is composed of representatives from across the country. The Council meets twice per year to review applications for accreditation.
Accreditation is a means of reinforcing and clarifying to the community at large what activities are pivotal to a chamber’s functions and determines the chamber’s unique value proposition vis-à-vis other organizations in the marketplace.
Chambers of commerce and boards of trade that are successful in achieving the requirements for accreditation are recognized each year at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting.
The chambers of commerce and boards of trade that received accreditation at this year’s
AGM in St. John’s are:
· Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, Accreditation with Distinction
· Surrey Board of Trade, Accreditation with Distinction
For more information on accreditation, visit the Chamber Accreditation Council of
Canada Web site, http://www.chamber.ca/index.php/en/chamber-network/C167/.
Contact:
Jennifer Hagen, Secretary
Chamber Accreditation Council of Canada
(613) 238-4000, x232, jhagen@chamber.ca
Or
Graham Starmer, President,
Chamber Accreditation Council of Canada
c/o Manitoba Chambers of Commerce
(204) 948-0100, gstarmer@mbchamber.mb.ca