The Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) is the national organization of the actuarial profession in Canada. It was incorporated March 18, 1965. The FCIA designation stands for Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. As the national organization of the Canadian actuarial profession, the CIA serves the public through the provision by the profession of actuarial services and advice by: representing the Canadian actuarial profession in the formulation of public policy; promoting the advancement of actuarial science; educating and qualifying CIA members; ensuring that actuarial services provided by its members meet accepted professional standards; and assisting actuaries in Canada in the discharge of their professional responsibilities.
The beginning of the actuarial profession in Canada can be dated to 1847, when the Canada Life Assurance Company was founded in Hamilton, Ontario, by Hugh Baker, who became a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in 1852. The federal Department of Insurance was established in 1875 and shortly thereafter recruited actuaries to its staff. The first actuarial organization in North America was the Actuarial Society of America, founded in 1889 in New York City and included four Canadians among its 38 charter members.
The original organization of actuaries in Canada, the Actuaries Club, was founded in 1907 with 24 charter members, all actuaries living and working in Toronto. The Canadian Association of Actuaries was established October 8, 1946, and included all members of the Actuaries Clubs of Toronto and Winnipeg as well as a group of Montreal actuaries. This was the organization that formed the membership basis of the CIA when it was established by an Act of Parliament[1] on March 18, 1965.
Following competitions, the Institute adopted the motto Nobis Cura Futuri, meaning We care about the future. A formal bilingualism policy[2] was adopted by the Institute in 1977.
Past presidents
1965 C.A. Naylor
1965–1966 R. Humphrys
1966–1967 E.S. Jackson
1967–1968 A.R. McCracken
1968–1969 C.E. Jack
1969–1970 L.E. Coward
1970–1971 J.C. Davidson
1971–1972 L.J. Mondoux
1972–1973 J.C. Maynard
1973–1974 R.C. Dowsett
1974–1975 C.G. White
1975–1976 R.B. Leckie
1976–1977 M.D.R. Brown
1977–1978 W.J.D. Lewis
1978–1979 T.R. Suttie
1979–1980 J.T. Birkenshaw
1980–1981 C.T.P. Galloway
1981–1982 L.B. Fewster
1982–1983 Y.G. Guérard
1983–1984 C.D. Chapman
1984–1985 C.S. Moore
1985–1986 M. Rosenfelder
1986–1987 K.T. Clark
1987–1988 J.D. Crawford
1988–1989 J. Cloutier
1989–1990 P.C. Hirst
1990–1991 R.L. Brown
1991–1992 W.P. McCrossan
1992–1993 M.W. Chambers
1993–1994 J.A. Brierley
1994–1995 K.K. von Schilling
1995–1996 M. Fernet
1996–1997 N.S. Henderson
1997–1998 H.H. Panjer
1998–1999 P.F. Morse
1999–2000 S.F. Wason
2000–2001 D.J. Oakden
2001–2002 J.-L. Massé
2002–2003 A.D. Pelletier
2003–2004 M. Lombardi
2004–2005 B.A.P. FitzGerald
2005–2006 C.C. McLeod
2006–2007 N. Gendron
2007–2008 J.H. Murta
2008–2009 M.A. Hale
2009–2010 R.C.W. Howard
2010–2011 Micheline Dionne
2011–2012 Jim Christie
2012-2013 Simon Curtis
2013–2014 Jacques Lafrance
2014–2015 Jacques Tremblay
2015-2016 Robert Stapleford
2016-2017 Dave Dickson
2017–2018 Sharon Giffen
2018-2019 John Dark
2019-2020 Marc Tardif
2020-2021 Michel St-Germain
2021-2022 Jacque Friedland
2022-2023 Hélène Pouliot
Governance
The Institute is governed by a Board[3] elected from the membership. The Board is composed of the following members:
President, President-Elect, Immediate Past President – one-year term
Twelve Directors – three-year term
Executive Director (ex officio)
The Board manages the work of the Institute. In accordance with the Institute’s Bylaws, six councils perform specific duties and report to the Board annually. Councils inform the Board of important initiatives. The Board’s focus is on strategic management, not operational issues. It approves council membership and appointment of certain committees. It also sets membership fees and the operating budget for the Institute.
The Board supports councils, committees, and task forces to act on technical and professional issues. It also exercises due diligence on the activities of the councils.
Membership
A person may apply for membership in the Institute as an Associate (ACIA), a Fellow (FCIA), an Affiliate, or a Correspondent. Full details of the examinations, courses, and other steps that are required are available on the CIA's website.[4]
Since September 2012, the CIA has operated a University Accreditation Program[5] that provides students with the option of completing some ACIA requirements through their actuarial science degree.
The CIA recognizes actuarial credentials earned from several other actuarial organizations around the world that enable associates and fellows of those organizations to qualify for CIA membership upon meeting a few additional requirements.
In 2022, the CIA launched a new education program that does not rely on the education or examinations of any other actuarial body.
Profession oversight
The Actuarial Profession Oversight Board[6] (APOB) was established by the CIA to provide independent and objective public oversight of the actuarial profession in Canada. APOB binds the CIA to its promise to hold the duty of the profession to the public above the needs of the profession and its members.
APOB has a broad, public-oriented perspective of the complex issues facing today’s actuaries. The board’s diverse membership draws from backgrounds in industry, business, regulatory bodies, organized labour, and other professions. The group also includes three members appointed by the CIA Board from within the CIA’s membership, ensuring that APOB has subject expertise on actuarial matters, while also providing the CIA Board with a level of insight into APOB operations.
APOB is entirely independent in its operations and directly oversees the key regulatory functions of the Institute; namely, actuarial standard-setting, continuing professional development, and professional conduct. APOB also provides the CIA Board with its public-oriented perspective on other CIA activities managed by the CIA councils which report to the CIA Board.
Legislation and actuaries
Several regulations and pieces of legislation, both federal and provincial, specify roles that can only be fulfilled by individuals holding the designation of Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA).
In 1991, the federal Insurance Companies Act[7] enshrined the role of Appointed Actuary in federal legislation. This role includes a formal designation from the boards of directors of all insurance companies and includes access to management information; a report in writing of any transactions or conditions which, in the actuary's opinion, have a significant adverse effect on the financial condition of the company; an annual report to boards of directors; and a report by the Appointed Actuary accompanying the published financial statements of companies.
Other roles reserved for FCIAs include the certification of defined-benefit pension plan valuations, filing responsibility for auto insurance rates, and the determination of interest rates in cases where the rate charged possibly exceeds the maximum stipulated in the Criminal Code of Canada.
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries Standards of Practice are defined and referenced in provincial pension benefits acts and regulations, such as in Ontario[8] and Quebec.[9]
Standards of practice
The Standards of Practice are precise and detailed descriptions of how actuaries, in all practice areas (e.g., actuarial evidence, pensions, life or property/casualty insurance), are to go about their work. They range from detailed instructions on how to make certain calculations to more general requirements as to what should be disclosed in actuarial reports. They are developed and adopted by the Actuarial Standards Board according to its due process and are published by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
Public policy activities
The CIA produces different types of public statements[10] to address issues of public policy in Canada and to respond to public consultations by governments and regulatory bodies. As a non-partisan entity, the CIA’s policy activities focus on offering input and advice to the benefit of the public good and all Canadians. Recent policy statements by the CIA have addressed topics such as retirement age,[11] climate change,[12] pharmacare,[13] and big data and risk classification.[14]
Seeing Beyond Risk
The CIA publishes Seeing Beyond Risk, a platform for articles and podcasts in both English and French about actuaries and the actuarial profession in Canada.[15]
Actuarial Foundation of Canada
In November 2001, the CIA Board authorized the development of the Actuarial Foundation of Canada (AFC),[16] which was founded in December 2003 to support youth education, consumer education, and research initiatives that use actuarial science and skills in the public interest.
The AFC pursues a variety of goals through giving and receiving grants and focusing on education, research, and consumer-education initiatives for the public and young Canadians especially.
An actuary is a professional with advanced mathematical skills who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. The name of the corresponding field is actuarial science which covers rigorous mathematical calculations such as the survival function and stochastic process. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require asset management, liability management, and valuation skills. Actuaries provide assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms.
An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certified Accountant or Certified Public Accountant, or Registered Public Accountant. Such professionals are granted certain responsibilities by statute, such as the ability to certify an organization's financial statements, and may be held liable for professional misconduct. Non-qualified accountants may be employed by a qualified accountant, or may work independently without statutory privileges and obligations.
Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in insurance, pension, finance, investment and other industries and professions. More generally, actuaries apply rigorous mathematics to model matters of uncertainty and life expectancy.
The International Actuarial Association (IAA) is a worldwide association of local professional actuarial associations.
The Canada Pension Plan is a contributory, earnings-related social insurance program. It forms one of the two major components of Canada's public retirement income system, the other component being Old Age Security (OAS). Other parts of Canada's retirement system are private pensions, either employer-sponsored or from tax-deferred individual savings. As of Jun 30, 2022, the CPP Investment Board manages over C$523 billion in investment assets for the Canada Pension Plan on behalf of 21 million Canadians. CPPIB is one of the world's biggest pension funds.
The Society of Actuaries (SOA) is a global professional organization for actuaries. It was founded in 1949 as the merger of two major actuarial organizations in the United States: the Actuarial Society of America and the American Institute of Actuaries. It is a full member organization of the International Actuarial Association.
The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) is a professional society of actuaries in North America specializing in property and casualty insurance.
The Institute of Actuaries was one of the two professional bodies which represented actuaries in the United Kingdom. The institute was based in England, while the other body, the Faculty of Actuaries, was based in Scotland. While the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries were separate institutions, they worked very closely together, and their professional qualifications and actuarial standards were identical. On 25 May 2010, voting members of the institute who took part in a ballot voted to merge the institute with the faculty, thus creating the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, which came into being on 1 August 2010. The Institute of Actuaries ceased to exist on that date.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) is the world's first professional body of Chartered Accountants (CAs).
Chartered accountants were the first accountants to form a professional accounting body, initially established in Scotland in 1854. The Edinburgh Society of Accountants (1854), the Glasgow Institute of Accountants and Actuaries (1854) and the Aberdeen Society of Accountants (1867) were each granted a royal charter almost from their inception. The title is an internationally recognised professional designation; the certified public accountant designation is generally equivalent to it. Women were able to become chartered accountants only following the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 after which, in 1920, Mary Harris Smith was recognised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and became the first woman chartered accountant in the world.
William Paul Joseph McCrossan is a Canadian actuary and former Member of Parliament.
The Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland was the professional body representing actuaries in Scotland. The Faculty of Actuaries was one of two actuarial bodies in the UK, the other was the Institute of Actuaries, which was a separate body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. While the Faculty of Actuaries and the Institute of Actuaries were separate institutions, they worked very closely together, and the professional qualifications and professional standards for actuaries were identical in each of them. On 25 May 2010, voting members of the Faculty who took part in a ballot voted to merge the Faculty with the Institute of Actuaries, thus creating the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries which came into being on 1 August 2010, superseding the Faculty of Actuaries which ceased to exist on that date.
The American Academy of Actuaries, also known as the Academy, is the body that represents and unites United States actuaries in all practice areas. Established in 1965, the Academy serves as the profession's voice on public policy and professionalism issues.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is an independent regulator in the UK and Ireland based in London Wall in the City of London, responsible for regulating auditors, accountants and actuaries, and setting the UK's Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. The FRC seeks to promote transparency and integrity in business by aiming its work at investors and others who rely on company reports, audits and high-quality risk management.
Founded in 1888, the Actuarial Society, is the professional association of actuaries in the Netherlands. Nearly all Dutch actuaries are members.
The Brazilian Institute of Actuaries is the national association for actuaries in Brazil.
The Office of the Chief Actuary is a government agency that has responsibility for actuarial estimates regarding social welfare programs. In Canada, the Office of the Chief Actuary works with the Canada Pension Plan and the Old Age Security Program. In the United States, the Social Security Administration has an Office of the Chief Actuary that deals with Social Security, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have an Office of the Actuary that deals with Medicare and Medicaid. A similar agency in the United Kingdom is called the Government Actuary's Department (GAD).
The Conference of Consulting Actuaries (CCA) is a professional society of actuaries engaged in consulting in the United States and Canada, as opposed to those employed by insurance companies. CCA members assist their clients with respect to pension, health, and other employee benefit plans; life insurance; and property and casualty insurance.
The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries is the professional body which represents and regulates actuaries in the United Kingdom.
The actuarial credentialing and exam process usually requires passing a rigorous series of professional examinations, most often taking several years in total, before one can become recognized as a credentialed actuary. In some countries, such as Denmark, most study takes place in a university setting. In others, such as the U.S., most study takes place during employment through a series of examinations. In the UK, and countries based on its process, there is a hybrid university-exam structure.
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