Background on Editors Canada’s strategic plan
Editors Canada’s last strategic plan concluded in 2021. Work on a new plan was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and financial concerns.
Drafting a new strategic plan
In summer 2023, Editors Canada sought the help of a strategic planning consulting firm to begin the process of drafting a new plan. This process started with a core working group of national executive council (NEC) members and the Editors Canada executive director.
For the next two years, the consultants led the engagement process to gather recommendations from members under the guidance of the strategic planning task force, as directed by the NEC. The process involved consultations with members, student affiliates and staff. Engagement activities included online meetings in both languages, one-on-one discussions, a presentation and booth at the 2024 conference, and a member questionnaire.
In late spring 2025, the consultant completed the draft Editors’ Association of Canada Strategic Plan 2025–2030 and the national office sent it to members on May 23 to review in advance of the annual general meeting (AGM) on June 26.
Member concerns at the AGM
At the AGM, a member submitted a motion to approve the strategic plan. Another member submitted a motion to reject the strategic plan. The motion to reject received support from many members.
During the meeting, members expressed concerns that there had been limited time to review the plan and no opportunities to provide feedback before it was brought to a vote. The discussion on the plan, for and against, took the AGM past its scheduled conclusion time and the meeting was adjourned without a vote on either motion about the strategic plan.
Strategic plan motions withdrawn
Prior to the special general meeting on September 11, 2025, the movers of the two strategic plan motions agreed to withdraw their motions with the understanding that the draft plan would go to members for consultation and then a vote at the 2026 AGM.
Have your say about the draft strategic plan
So, let’s start talking!
We’re hoping that reviewing the draft strategic plan will prompt you to talk about it with other members, using any of our channels below:
- dedicated Google Groups;
- English members-only Facebook group;
- French members-only Facebook group;
- Discord server; and
- meetings (in-person and online) hosted by your branch or twig.
To submit your feedback directly to those who will be revising the draft plan, email past president Heather Buzila at strategicplan-feedback@editors.ca.
Deadline: February 27, 2026
We recommend keeping these conversations on closed channels (i.e., outside of public social media groups), as open channels have non-member participants who may comment on and influence conversations without having all the necessary information required to do so.
Next steps
As a start, we will gather up all the comments on the draft strategic plan and review and collate them. We’ll then report back to members about what we heard.
We’re aiming to have the draft finalized in time to be voted on at the 2026 AGM.
We’d like to thank members, our professional staff, and student affiliates for being part of this consultation. We are excited to see where the discussion leads.
National Executive Council
Editors Canada