The association dedicated to promoting the CFP designation in Canada is holding its second annual conference and general meeting in Ottawa starting this Sunday.

The Canadian Institute of Financial Planners, an education and advocacy organization affiliated with the education arm of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada, will be holding technical and educational sessions from Sunday until Wednesday. The group’s annual general meeting will take place on Tuesday.

Election of board members, a chairman and vice chairman will take place at the AGM.

Managing director Keith Costello says he expects chairman John Charette and vice-chairwoman Marion Weisgerber will each be re-elected to a second one-year term. Other directors, which represent various regions across Canada and financial disciplines, serve three-year terms.

“We’ll be giving a review of what we’ve accomplished in the past this year and laying out a blueprint of where we’re going this year,” Costello says. “We’ll also make some comments on regulatory issues and where we see our organization and planners fitting in.”

The organization was officially launched in May 2003 to “support financial planning and the CFP as the de facto definition of financial planning,” according to Costello.
It held its first conference and general meeting in the spring of 2003 in Huntsville, Ont.

This year’s conference will attract 200 participants, including 150 delegates as well as sponsors, speakers and guests. The conference will be held at the Westin Ottawa. The CIFPs has about 1,400 members across Canada, all of them either holding the CFP designation or working toward it.

For more information, visit: www.cifps.ca