CALU Committees

CALU has 12 Board and Operational committees providing CALU members with opportunities to volunteer their time and expertise on specific subjects.

The Finance & Audit Committee reports to the Board of Directors. Responsibilities include:

  • Reviewing CALU’s draft budget prepared by management and recommending it for approval to the Board
  • Reviewing the quarterly financial statements with management
  • Assessing the qualifications and independence of the external auditors and recommending their appointment to the Board and the Members.
  • Reviewing the effectiveness of CALU’s internal control system over financial reporting and discussing findings and recommendations with management and the auditors
  • Overseeing the work of the external auditors, reviewing the annual financial statements and recommending their approval to the Board.
  • Ensuring CALU’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
  • Overseeing the risk management framework development and management

The Governance and Nominating Committee reports to the Board of Directors. Responsibilities include:

  • Identifying potential individuals to become members of the Board of Directors.
  • Conducting due diligence on applicants and recommending nominees for election as Directors to the membership.
  • Recommending to the Board of Directors nominees for election as Officers.
  • Developing and recommending to the Board of Directors suitable corporate governance principles for CALU.
  • Leading the annual review of the performance of the Board of Directors.

The HR and Compensation Committee assists the Board of Directors in fulfilling its oversight and decision-making obligations for human resources, and compensation matters involving the President & CEO. Responsibilities include:

  • Annually reviewing the President & CEO’s position description.
  • Implementing the individual’s annual performance evaluation process.
  • Annually reviewing the individual’s compensation and benefits program.
  • Reviewing with the President & CEO, existing human resources and plans, including a risk management assessment, to ensure that qualified resources will be available to execute CALU’s work program.

The Membership Committee reports to the Board of Directors and ensures a strong and engaged membership base for the organization. Responsibilities include:

  • Supporting membership recruitment and retention activities aligned with the organization’s strategic plan.
  • Recommending actions to support membership recruitment, onboarding of new members, and retention of current members.
  • Monitoring implementation of membership recruitment, onboarding, and retention strategies.
  • Conducting peer-to-peer outreach (phone calls, emails, etc.) to potential, current and/or former members, in particular following up with guests who attend CALU events.
  • Reviewing and recommending membership applications to the Board of Directors for approval.

The Tax Policy and Advocacy Committee reports to the Board of Directors and leads policy development on federal tax and other public policy issues that may be of primary importance to CALU members/clients and/or to the federal government. Responsibilities include:

  • Identifying, assessing, and developing recommendations to staff and the Board relating to the above issues.
  • Assisting in the development of submissions and/or other policy materials relating to those issues.
  • Liaising with other CALU Committees as needed.
  • Providing advocacy support on those issues as needed, including engaging members in grassroots advocacy.

The Market Practice Committee reports to the Board of Directors and has responsibilities including:

  • Actively monitoring the life insurance marketplace for aggressive planning strategies, marketing activities and life insurance products that may have negative consequences for consumers, insurance advisors and/or the life insurance industry to ensure the marketplace is complying with the exempt test rules and underlying policy rationale.
  • Reporting instances of aggressive strategies or products along with recommendations of whether to select the practice for further review and/or action.
  • Participating in discussions with insurance companies or other organizations that may be facilitating aggressive planning strategies to better understand their motivations and communicate and educate on the concerns.
  • Preparing guidance and best practices relating to selected aggressive planning strategies by creating educational material for advisors.
  • Liaising with other CALU Committees as required including the Advanced Education Committee and the Tax Policy and Advocacy Committee.

The Life Insurance Committee reports to the President & CEO and focuses on income tax concerns dealing with the taxation of life insurance and the tax aspects related to the use of life insurance in the marketplace. Responsibilities include:

  • Identifying areas of interest and concern to CALU members.
  • Monitoring marketing and legislative developments regarding the identified issues.
  • Developing draft policy positions and recommendations for consideration by the CALU Board of Directors.
  • Informing members of the status of issues and sharing information about advanced marketing applications through CALU publications.
  • Creating, developing, and presenting content at CALU events.

The Advanced Education Committee reports to the President & CEO and ensures that CALU’s educational offerings meet the needs of the membership. Responsibilities include:

  • Ensuring CALU provides advanced education and technical knowledge in life insurance and related areas, particularly for the concurrent workshops at the Conference & AGM.
  • Ensuring that content meets the CE accreditation requirements of various jurisdictions and agencies.
  • Reviewing proposals and presentations by speakers and moderators and providing feedback.
  • Liaising with other CALU committees as needed.

The Advanced Education Symposium Committee reports to the President & CEO and focuses on the advanced technical education aspects of CALU’s annual Symposium in the fall. Responsibilities include:

  • Identifying technical areas of interest and concern to members.
  • Creating, developing, and sourcing sessions at the event.
  • Reviewing proposals and presentations by speakers and moderators and providing feedback in collaboration with the Advanced Education Committee.

The Conference & AGM Program Committee reports to the President & CEO and plays a key role in the development of the program for the annual Conference & AGM. Responsibilities include:

  • Developing the overall theme of the Conference & AGM.
  • Developing the event program that meets CALU’s advanced life underwriting mandate, supports the professional development requirements of members and creates a great conference experience.
  • Proposing and selecting topics and speakers for mainstage sessions in alignment with the event theme.
  • Liaising with the Advanced Education Committee on concurrent workshops.
  • Reviewing feedback and program suggestions from previous year’s registrants and identifying areas for improvement or change.
  • Suggesting networking events while maintaining an optimal balance between education and peer interaction.
  • Adhering to the Conference & AGM key dates and deadlines to ensure registration opens on schedule with a full program.
  • Providing input to staff and other committees on the communications and government relations components of the event.

The CRA/Finance Roundtable Committee reports to the President & CEO, assists with developing questions for the biennial CALU CRA/Finance Roundtable and provides input on questions for the biennial CLHIA CRA Roundtable. Responsibilities include:

  • Attending meetings to discuss and prioritize technical questions for submission to the Canada Revenue Agency and Finance Canada.
  • Gathering input on questions to be submitted from other CALU members and committees.
  • Assisting with the development of Roundtable questions.
  • Editing questions drafted by other members of the Committee.
  • Providing input on the final questions to be submitted to the CRA and Finance officials.

The Publications Editorial Committee reports to the President & CEO and includes members with tax and legal expertise to support technical editorial aspects of CALU’s INFOexchange and CALU Report publications. Responsibilities include:

  • Providing comments and suggested revisions to articles submitted for publication.
  • Suggesting and/or authoring articles for publication.
  • Liaising with the Advanced Education Committee to ensure alignment of educational goals and coordination of topics as needed.

CALU Resource Group

CALU also offers members whose interests and skills lie in areas not covered by Committees, or who may not want to participate in them, an opportunity to join CALU’s new “Resource Group”. CALU may call on some of those volunteers for their expertise on a particular subject on an ad hoc basis (e.g., to respond to government consultations). Conversely, members of the Resource Group may bring particular issues relating to their area of expertise to CALU’s attention for consideration.

These areas include but are not limited to:

  • Employee Benefits
  • Living Benefits
  • Wealth Management
  • Philanthropy

Call for volunteers

CALU is currently seeking volunteers to serve on its 12 Committees and its new Resource Group for the 2024-2025 program year (until April 2025).

Committees (closed)

  • CALU members from all membership categories may apply to serve on up to three Committees and will be asked to rank their choices. An expression of interest only guarantees consideration but does not guarantee a space on the desired Committee(s)(No longer accepting applications to Committees).

Resource Group

  • CALU members from all membership categories may indicate their interest to serve in as many Resource Group areas as they wish.

Meeting logistics

  • Most Committees have seven to twelve members, although variations may occur.
  • Most Committees meet virtually via video conference between four and eight times per year, depending on the mandate of each committee.
  • Most Committees have additional time commitments between meetings.
  • The Resource Group does not have a set meeting schedule. Members will be consulted as required and meetings may occur on an ad hoc basis.

Application deadline

Please submit your interest to serve on the Resource Group via the Members Portal.