Bylaws and Constitution

The Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (“CACAP”) is a corporation formed under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (the “Act”). Like all such corporations, CACAP has a constitution consisting of articles and by-laws. Articles set out a corporation’s name, registered office, membership classes, number of directors, and purpose. By-laws set out rules relating to other matters, such as dues, meetings, officers, notices and the conditions required for being a member. The Act and the constitution are the governing law of CACAP.

Members are invited to familiarize themselves with the constitution.

Process to Propose an Amendment

By-law 34 sets out the procedure for amending CACAP’s constitution. It allows any voting member, supported by a seconder, to propose an amendment by forwarding it to the Secretary at least 60 days before a general meeting of members. By-law 34 requires any amendment to the constitution to be approved by a vote of two-thirds of the voting members present. In addition, the Act has more stringent requirements for member approval when a proposed amendment would make certain fundamental changes.

Our Strategic Plan

CACAP’s strategic planning initiative began in 2015. As part of the development of a strategic plan to establish priorities and guide organizational decision-making, CACAP held a consultation using focus groups to obtain member input. This was followed by a Strategic Planning Retreat in 2016. In 2018, a further half-day retreat focused on the board’s structure and composition in follow-up to the work of the Governance Committee.