The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Faculty of Administrative Science of Université Laval and the Autorité des marchés financiers have partnered to create the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés, a school for corporate and pension fund directors.

Courses in the new program will be delivered at the Caisse’s headquarters in the Price Building, in Québec City, and are scheduled to begin by mid-June.

.”We base our investment decisions not only on the quality of the companies, their management ability and growth outlook but also on the soundness of their governance,” said Caisse Chairman and CEO Henri-Paul Rousseau. “The Collège will give Quebec companies access to the best possible information on good governance practices. And since the Collège’s target clientele includes pension fund directors, Caisse depositors and other pension fund members will benefit from the expertise developed by the Collège,” Rousseau added.

Laval will see to the new school’s management and deliver the constantly updated courses.

“We are supporting the Collège des administrateurs with the Fund for Investor Education and the Promotion of Good Governance, which seeks to encourage the highest quality of governance standards. The Collège will give Quebec companies, their officers and managers access to high-level training and the knowledge they need to set up best management practices,” said Jean St-Gelais, president and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers.

The goal of the school is to better equip directors serving on the boards of companies and pension funds, as well as those working in public and parapublic organizations and cooperatives. The school will focus primarily on the regulatory framework in Quebec.

The training will take the form of in-residence modules dealing with the duties and responsibilities of directors, governance principles, risk management, strategic management, financial structure and analysis, and audits. At the end of the training, participants will earn the designation “Certified Director.”