It is our pleasure to provide you with a review and update of your National Association activities so far in 2025. Our Board, Committees and Advisory Groups continue to work diligently on making steady improvements to our association while delivering value to the Canadian Printing Industry.
The mission of the CPIA is to provide a national voice and platform for our industry and a connection point for regional associations, sector associations and print-focused post-secondary educational programs.
We have fulfilled our mission in several ways so far in 2025
- Your Board, composed of volunteers, continues to meet regularly to review progress to date and to plan future association activities. Through our nominating committee we are conducting a search to fill the roles of Vice-Chair, Secretary Treasurer and Association Manager.
- Supplier Partners: We continue to solicit suppliers to join us in our quest to engage the Canadian printing industry through training programs and seminars. We were successful at gaining several new suppliers who joined our Supplier Partner program. We discuss our progress and activities with our Supplier Advisory group composed of representatives from Spicers, Domtar and Heidelberg. We are pleased to report that the vast majority of Supplier Partners have renewed their membership in the past year, and we are very appreciative of their ongoing support.
- Website and Online Communications: The Resource page of our website is used by our supplier partners to list supplier initiatives, new products or product improvements. Our Event page has also been given greater attention, encouraging members and partners to list their upcoming activities and events. We have also created a job board page which links the visitor to our Regional Association job boards as well as the Connecting for Results job board page. Our LinkedIn page is regularly viewed by the industry, and we use it to promote Events or special activities.
- Education Committee: The Education committee has recently engaged with the UK-based Learn 2 Print organization. Learn 2 Print is a leading provider of training programs in the printing and graphics industry. The CPIA would like to go forward with a test program involving a few printing firms to evaluate the potential success of such
- a program for our industry in Canada. We envision developing a national trades certification program which takes inspiration from the highly successful models in place in both the UK and Australia.
- Government Affairs Committee: Our Government Affairs committee under the leadership of Clinton Foss (APIA) has communicated with a number of Canadian Government Ministers with portfolios that touch directly or indirectly the Canadian printing industry. The group prepared a letter campaign addressed to Federal Government Ministers and other members of Parliament requesting expanded dialogue on issues of concern to the printing industry. The Government Affairs group also wrote to the Government , Canada Post and the union of postal workers expressing our concerns over the impacts of the Canada Post strike and the state of current negotiations. We requested information on next steps that the Canadian government will be taking to avoid work disruptions at Canada Post moving forward. They are also presently looking into the possibility of getting Government funding for a possible national training program tied into our activities with the Learn 2 Print program.
- Communication and Events committee: The committee has organized two very successful events in 2025. We have changed our model for events allowing all participants to attend the events free of charge. This is possible due to the collaboration of supplier partners that sponsor the events. Our April event centered on Tariffs and our June event centered on the use of Artificial Intelligence in the printing industry. We are in the process of planning 2 more events in 2025.
- Committees and Advisory Groups: Our 4 standing committees headed by Board members continue to meet on a regular basis to address various issues of interest and concern to the Canadian printers. These are the Communication and Events Committee, Supplier Committee, Government Affairs Committee, and Education Committee.
- We continue to actively work with our Education Advisory Group composed of post-secondary graphic-arts focused programs from across the country.
- We formed a new Printer Advisory Group in late 2023. This group has as a mission to advise the CPIA on possible activities and events that would be of interest to the industry. It is composed of printers from various sectors of the printing community. They meet quarterly and reports are then submitted to the CPIA Board.
- Your Board, composed of volunteers, continues to meet regularly to review progress to date and to plan future association activities. Through our nominating committee we are conducting a search to fill the roles of Vice-Chair, Secretary Treasurer and Association Manager.
- Supplier Partners: We continue to solicit suppliers to join us in our quest to engage the Canadian printing industry through training programs and seminars. We were successful at gaining several new suppliers who joined our Supplier Partner program. We discuss our progress and activities with our Supplier Advisory group composed of representatives from Spicers, Domtar and Heidelberg. We are pleased to report that the vast majority of Supplier Partners have renewed their membership in the past year, and we are very appreciative of their ongoing support.
- Website and Online Communications: The Resource page of our website is used by our supplier partners to list supplier initiatives, new products or product improvements. Our Event page has also been given greater attention, encouraging members and partners to list their upcoming activities and events. We have also created a job board page which links the visitor to our Regional Association job boards as well as the Connecting for Results job board page. Our LinkedIn page is regularly viewed by the industry, and we use it to promote Events or special activities.
- Education Committee: The Education committee has recently engaged with the UK-based Learn 2 Print organization. Learn 2 Print is a leading provider of training programs in the printing and graphics industry. The CPIA would like to go forward with a test program involving a few printing firms to evaluate the potential success of such
- a program for our industry in Canada. We envision developing a national trades certification program which takes inspiration from the highly successful models in place in both the UK and Australia.
- Government Affairs Committee: Our Government Affairs committee under the leadership of Clinton Foss (APIA) has communicated with a number of Canadian Government Ministers with portfolios that touch directly or indirectly the Canadian printing industry. The group prepared a letter campaign addressed to Federal Government Ministers and other members of Parliament requesting expanded dialogue on issues of concern to the printing industry. The Government Affairs group also wrote to the Government , Canada Post and the union of postal workers expressing our concerns over the impacts of the Canada Post strike and the state of current negotiations. We requested information on next steps that the Canadian government will be taking to avoid work disruptions at Canada Post moving forward. They are also presently looking into the possibility of getting Government funding for a possible national training program tied into our activities with the Learn 2 Print program.
- Communication and Events committee: The committee has organized two very successful events in 2025. We have changed our model for events allowing all participants to attend the events free of charge. This is possible due to the collaboration of supplier partners that sponsor the events. Our April event centered on Tariffs and our June event centered on the use of Artificial Intelligence in the printing industry. We are in the process of planning 2 more events in 2025.
- Committees and Advisory Groups: Our 4 standing committees headed by Board members continue to meet on a regular basis to address various issues of interest and concern to the Canadian printers. These are the Communication and Events Committee, Supplier Committee, Government Affairs Committee, and Education Committee.
- We continue to actively work with our Education Advisory Group composed of post-secondary graphic-arts focused programs from across the country.
- We formed a new Printer Advisory Group in late 2023. This group has as a mission to advise the CPIA on possible activities and events that would be of interest to the industry. It is composed of printers from various sectors of the printing community. They meet quarterly and reports are then submitted to the CPIA Board.