Message from the President

The first week of February in Toronto is always a busy time for both Ontario CIAA members and those who have travelled from across the country to attend the many back to back events and this year was no exception.

The week kicked off with CIAA’s National Insurance Industry Advisory Board meeting followed by CIAA’s Mid-Year meeting. Further advancements are being made on CIAA’s on-going initiative regarding temporary licensing harmonization for “insurable claims events”, in large part due to the relentless efforts of Chairperson Patti Kernaghan. Sincere thanks to our stakeholders on the board for their commitment and invaluable contribution addressing issues of mutual concern within the claims community.

Our Education Committee is making headway in moving the development of our new CLA designation program forward. While the last few courses of the program are currently in the works, I encourage members to check out CIAA’s on-line education program at www.ciaa-adjusters.ca for a complete course listing and program registration at a great value of $125 per member per year. Currently there are 30 courses available with many of these courses being a requisite towards the CLA designation which will depict expertise specific to the profession of loss adjusting.

Following CIAA’s consultations with the Department of Finance regarding their current examination of the GST/HST treatment of financial services, a formal position paper outlining CIAA’s observations and recommendations has been submitted to CRA.

CICMA/CIAA Ontario Chapters’ Annual Joint Conference was another well planned, well attended, successful event. I noted the unique and special relationship that exists between CICMA and CIAA, not only in Ontario but in other jurisdictions across the country. For 47 years, Ontario members from both associations have come together to organize this conference for the benefit of its members. This year’s theme was Technology Supporting Claims. The four guest speakers focused on various topics ranging from how we use technology for fraud detection, trend analysis as well as how it impacts our investigation and settlement of claims. Keynote speaker, Amber MacArthur’s fast paced and entertaining presentation on the evolution of technology brought back memories of the days of typing reports on an IBM typewriter then switching from word-processors to computers and new apps and social media etc. I realize how far we’ve come and how much more there is to learn! And I’m sure it will always be that way.

I was pleased to receive such positive feedback on CIAA’s 2014 National Claims Manual as well as our special 60th anniversary edition of Claims Canada. Additional copies of the CIAA Claims Manual can be obtained by contacting our National office.

I am looking forward to attending AESIQ’s annual Sugar Shack event followed by the arrival of spring and the upcoming Joint CICMA/CIAA events that I will be attending in Edmonton and Vancouver in April. I know first-hand the amount of time and effort that goes into planning these types of events, as well as arranging for accreditation of the educational seminars and I thank each of the respective organizing committees in advance for all your hard work. Members are encouraged to actively participate and support their local chapter at every opportunity.

As always, I invite you to contact me anytime should you have any questions, comments or suggestions.