Our Purpose

The Institute of Corporate Directors strives to lead and demonstrate the value of excellence in directorship and enlightens directors to anticipate, influence, and meet boardroom challenges.

Our members receive exclusive benefits that help them to perform their director role effectively and make an appropriate contribution in the boardroom. The ICD offers highly regarded professional development programs that provide value-added director education and learning opportunities including our industry-recognized ICD.D designation for graduates of the ICD-Rotman Directors Education Program.

ICD also offers continuing education programs, where members benefit from informal learning sessions, networking events  and local chapter support.

Members gain access to world class resources such as timely information on current and emerging governance issues and best practices , and the ICD Directors Register, a dynamic board matching and referral service.

ICD is proud to represent a strong, unified voice for the director community. ICD seeks to represent directors and their interests, and to develop thought leadership for and among our membership.

A Vital Purpose

This is where the ICD comes in, with a purpose to improve trust and confidence in Canadian organizations by developing and activating directors.

This is no small challenge but we are well placed to help lead the charge. The ICD pioneered director education in this country, which was a huge leap forward in creating a culture of good governance. We will leverage our rich and impactful history by providing more and enhanced learning opportunities and continuing education, by creating more forums for dialogue that lead to better decision making. We will build even stronger Chapters, more alliances and develop richer data.

We will use the ICD brand to draw more directors and boards into our community for more reasons.

We will also be more vocal. The opinions of more than 16,000 members who make up the ICD are an influential and necessary part of the broader dialogue on where our organizations and our economy need to go, and what issues Canada’s political, corporate and social decision-makers should prioritize.

A Renewed Strategy

Our Purpose is a necessary and significant undertaking. Realizing it requires a strategy centred on leadership. To improve trust and confidence in Canadian organizations by developing and activating directors, we will:

• Build operational excellence by aligning our Purpose of improving trust and confidence in Canadian organizations with our strategies and our talent. This means fostering habits of learning, collaboration and professionalism, and equipping our people with the right skills, tools, processes and systems so that we achieve our goals.
• Deliver dynamic education by continuing to invest in the best understanding of what constitutes board leadership and what makes effective boards. This also means continuing to design learning programs that develop people who contribute to board leadership, and delivering that learning through highly responsive and flexible systems.
• Enable local leadership by creating full partnerships with our Chapters and equipping them with the resources necessary to attract and engage local contributors to board leadership who are personally committed to our shared ICD Purpose.
• Deliver excellent member and customer experience. This means knowing the needs and concerns of our members and customers, and delivering a valuable offering through an outstanding experience.
• Continue to be the voice to and for directors. Going forward, this will mean gathering and synthesizing insights from the board leaders we touch, developing relevant and meaningful points of view, and amplifying these positions to make a meaningful impact on Canada.

To view the Strategic Plan, click here.