Council of Canadian Academies

The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) (French: Conseil des académies canadiennes) was created to perform independent, expert assessments of the science that is relevant to important public issues. The CCA's assessment scope includes the natural, social and health sciences, engineering and the humanities.[1]

Council of Canadian Academies
AbbreviationCCA
Formation2002
TypeNon-governmental organization (NGO)
PurposeExpert assessments of existing evidence
HeadquartersOttawa, Ontario
Region served
Canada
Official language
English
French
Websitewww.cca-reports.ca

The CCA is a private, non-profit corporation that received a $30 million founding grant in 2005 from the Government of Canada. The grant supported core operations for 10 years and was renewed in 2015 with an additional $15 million for five years.[2][3] Although the CCA is at arm's length from government, it has agreed to conduct up to five assessments per year of subjects proposed by the Canadian federal government. The CCA can also perform assessments for non-governmental and private sector organizations, but the cost of these cannot be covered by the federal government's founding grant.

History

The CCA was initially, in April 2002, incorporated as the Canadian Academies of Science, but in June 2006 renamed to Council of Canadian Academies.[4][5]

Governance

The CCA is governed by a 12-member Board of Directors, some of whom are appointed by the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada. The current Chair of the Board of Directors is David Dodge.

The CCA also has a Scientific Advisory Committee, whose role is to advise the Board on assessment topic selection, terms of reference, the selection of expert panelists, and peer review. The current Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee is Eliot A. Phillipson.

Presidents
  • The first President of the Council of Canadian Academies was Peter Nicholson. His appointment was announced February 8, 2006. He retired at the end of 2009.
  • Elizabeth Dowdeswell was President until September 2014.
  • Janet Bax was interim President from October 2014[6] to January 31, 2016.
  • Eric M. Meslin is President as of February 1, 2016.[7][8]

Assessments

The CCA's assessments are performed by independent panels of qualified experts from Canada and abroad who serve pro bono. This model has been employed in other countries, most notably in the United States by the National Research Council of the US National Academies. All Council assessments are published and made available to the public free of charge in English and French. Assessments are published as panel consensus reports in conjunction with separate "Report in Focus" summaries. The first Director of Assessments was Marc Saner.[3] The current Director of Assessments is Tijs Creutzberg.

Reports

The first report of the CCA, "Survey on Canada's S&T Strengths and Capacity",[9] was released September 12, 2006.

Since then, the CCA has published over 50 additional assessments.[10]

References
  1. Buzan, Mark (February 8, 2006). "CNW Group - Peter Nicholson Appointed as 1st President of the Canadian Academies of Science". CNW Group on behalf of Thornley Fallis Communications. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  2. "University Affairs - Prime Minister creates Academies of Science". University Affairs Magazine. December 2004. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  3. "Council of Canadian Academies | CCA | Funding". www.scienceadvice.ca. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  4. Stavroula Papadopoulos (2009). "History of the creation of the Council of Canadian Academies" (PDF). Council of Canadian Academies. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
  5. Quirion, Remi; Carty, Arthur; Dufour, Paul; Jabr, Ramia (2016-08-02). "Reflections on science advisory systems in Canada". Palgrave Communications. 2. doi:10.1057/palcomms.2016.48. ISSN 2055-1045.
  6. "Board of Governors for the Council of Canadian Academies appoints Janet Bax as Interim President and CEO". 2 October 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  7. "Council announces Dr. Eric M. Meslin, FCAHS, as new President and CEO". 26 November 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. "Announcements - January 2016 | University Affairs". University Affairs. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  9. "Survey on Canada's S&T Strengths and Capacity" (PDF). Council of Canadian Academies. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  10. "CCA Reports". Retrieved 2019-01-13.
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