Message from the President
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) - an organization whose members practice Public Relations and Communications in Canada and abroad. From its inception, members have worked to maintain the highest professional standards and to share a uniquely Canadian experience in public relations while working with our North American and international partners to promote recognition of the practice as a profession worldwide.
The CPRS is a federation of 16 regional Member Societies in Canada, based in major cities or organized province-wide. All Member Societies adhere to the constitution of the CPRS and subscribe to a Code of Professional Standards. In cooperation with its regional Member Societies and with like-minded organizations in other countries, CPRS works to advance the professional stature of public relations for the benefit and protection of the public interest.
The CPRS is dedicated to the professional development of its members and to continuing education in Public Relations and Communications history, ethics, practice, and leadership development. To ensure that CPRS members provide the highest quality of service to their employers and clients, the CPRS offers a professional accreditation credential (APR) that is reciprocally recognized by our colleagues in the Public Relations Society of America in the US, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations of the United Kingdom and eight other national Public Relations organizations worldwide.
The CPRS supports its regional societies in offering frequent professional development and networking opportunities, and an annual conference held in a different Canadian city each year, and open to members and non-members, offers a wide variety of professional development sessions and workshops delivered by Canadian and international Public Relations practitioners who are acknowledged experts in their field.
Strengthening the link between the experiential and academic aspects of the profession is also a priority of the CPRS. To this end, the Society's National Council on Education has been set up to work closely with Canadian Universities and Colleges and our colleagues in the United States toward harmonizing curricula and promoting consistency in public relations and communications education. This is envisaged to work in partnership with the process leading to accreditation by the CPRS.
An annual Awards of Excellence program acknowledges best practices and outstanding achievements by CPRS members across Canada. A wide range of categories in both the private and public sectors highlight individual and organizational excellence in Public Relations and Communications practice. And this year, we are introducing a WebN'R series that will share ideas from winning submissions with our entire membership.
To learn more about the CPRS and the benefits of membership, I encourage you to explore this site and to contact the CPRS National Office for additional information.
Thank you for visiting the CPRS Web Site.
Derrick Pieters APR, FCPRS
National President, CPRS