By Sandra Caya, CIA Director of Communications and Public Affairs
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) is proud to share its updated corporate language, refreshed to better represent the evolving focus of the Institute on important topics such as education, risk management, and diversity and inclusion. Like all professions, the actuarial profession is evolving and responding to unprecedented changes in our society and economy, and our language should reflect that evolution and modernization.
“Our updated corporate language distills the core principles of the actuarial profession and our Institute’s purpose into just a few key accessible statements,” explains Jenny Ge, FCIA, member of the CIA Board. “Adopting the right language helps us grow and propel ourselves forward to stay relevant to both current and future generations of actuaries and the public.”
Vision
Financial security for all Canadians.
This vision has been upheld by the CIA for many years and continues to be extremely relevant in today’s world, especially as Canada looks to its economic recovery following the pandemic. To make the vision even more inclusive, the word “all” has been added to emphasize that actuaries are focused on the needs and interests of the entire Canadian population.
Mission
As the qualifying and governing body of the actuarial profession in Canada, we develop and uphold rigorous standards, share our risk management expertise, and advance actuarial science for the financial well-being of society.
The mission of the CIA has been reframed to better reflect the Institute’s activities, notably our world-class education and qualification system and our areas of strategic focus: setting standards and offering guidance, and advancing actuarial science through research and sharing our expertise. And all of this continues to be framed within the lens of improving the financial well-being of society.
Values
- We care about principles. Professionalism defines us. We are trustworthy and accountable, and we uphold strict ethical principles.
- We care about people. We foster a diverse and inclusive environment. We put the public interest ahead of our own.
- We care about the future. Foresight is our strength. We anticipate risk to evolve with our changing environment.
The CIA’s core values remain focused as ever on three key areas, but we have freed ourselves from the restrictive C-I-A format of Community, Integrity, and Advancement. These core areas are now expressed more simply as principles, people, and the future, while introducing rhythm and unity with a series of “we care” statements. Importantly, this new wording gives action to the Institute’s values: we care about these issues and live them each day.
The actuarial profession adheres to strict rules of conduct and upholds ethical behaviour and non-bias in actuarial work, and this is essential – thus taking the first position in our list of values. The updated value relating to people has been refreshed to actively represent the diversity principles at the core of the Institute, from bilingualism to promoting diverse voices, while staying focused on the profession’s core commitment to the public interest. And actuaries are as focused as always on the future, assessing and analyzing risk in a world filled with information and issues that move and evolve faster than ever before.
Boilerplate
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) is the qualifying and governing body of the actuarial profession in Canada. We develop and uphold rigorous standards, share our risk management expertise, and advance actuarial science for the financial well-being of society. Our more than 6,000 members apply their knowledge of math, statistics, data analytics, and business in providing services and advice of the highest quality to help ensure the financial security of all Canadians.
The CIA’s boilerplate appears on official publications and letters, and is used whenever the Institute or our actuaries need to be explained in a quick, simple way. Drawing on the refreshed language in the mission and vision, it then goes a step further in describing the role of actuaries and their areas of expertise.
You will start to see this new language on our website and rolling out across our publications and messaging from now on. We look forward to seeing the CIA’s updated vision, mission, and values in action as the profession evolves in the coming years.
Thank you to CIA Board members Claire Bilodeau, Jenny Ge, and Naveed Irshad, and CIA Executive Director Michel Simard, for their work on the refreshed corporate language.
