PRESIDENT’S REPORT TO THE BOARD – March 2014

Please accept this submission on behalf of the management team across Canada. This is the third submission of the fiscal 2013/14 period.

The format of the President’s Report for the fiscal 2013/2014 will be: Client Service Data

o Unique Clients and Hours by Interventiono Client Wait Time by Interventiono Client Age Group by Interventiono Unique Clients by Client Ageo Client Hours by Service and Functional Vision Code

2013/14 Priority Areaso Strategic Plan Consultation and Developmento E-Learning Roll Outo Reading Re-Imagined Year Two

2013/14 Strategic Plan o Client Service Deliveryo Fundraisingo Expense Managemento People and Culture

International Relations and Development

I look forward to discussing the details at the Board meeting and answering any questions you may have.

Respectfully submitted,

John M. RaffertyPresident and CEO

CLIENT SERVICE DATA I am pleased to share the reporting of service information as our first priority.

National Service HoursOct 1 – Dec 31

Unique Clients and Hours by Intervention# (+/-)

Change Hrs %

Change 2012 2013 2012 2013Assistive Technology 3,291 2,653 -638 7,538 7,299 -3%Children Services 999 1,005 6 6,209 5,744 -7%

Client Support Services 9,283 8,836 -447 4,868 4,898 1%

Counseling 980 670 -310 1,811 1,459 -19%DeafBlind Services 207 239 32 16,992 21,142 24%

Group Programs 1,555 1,387 -168 12,654 11,490 -9%Independent Living Skills & Employment Services

3,739 3,285 -454 13,808 11,229 18%

Initial Assessment 4,091 3,499 -592 4,564 4,000 -12%Low Vision Services 4,869 4,373 -496 10,357 8,959 -13%Orientation and Mobility 2,969 2,489 -480 11,156 10,211 -8%Other Services 401 350 -51 3,494 3,037 13%

Grand Total 18,896 17,356 -1,540 93,451 89,470 -4%

Library # Clients Served# Circulation

(Physical & Online)27,826 531,308

Age GroupOct 1 – Dec 31

Unique Clients Served by Client Age2012 2013

# % # %0-21 1,894 10% 1,892 11%22-64 5,535 29% 5,327 31%65+ 11,466 61% 10,136 58%

Grand Total 18,895 100% 17,355 100%

Oct 1 – Dec 31

Client Wait Time by Intervention0-2 Weeks 3-4 Weeks 5-8 Weeks 9-26 Weeks 27 Weeks+ Total

#Total

%# % # % # % # % # %Assistive Technology 111 27% 56 14% 91 22% 106 26% 44 11% 408 100%

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Children’s Services 40 43% 10 11% 13 14% 19 20% 12 13% 94 100%

Counseling 7 33% 4 19% 4 19% 5 24% 1 5% 21 100%Independent Living Skills& Employment Services

157 22% 119 17% 158 23% 187 27% 78 11% 699 100%

Initial Assessment 968 43% 543 24% 499 22% 238 11% 16 1% 2,264 100%

Low Vision Services 466 32% 301 21% 328 23% 295 20% 64 4% 1,454 100%

Orientation and Mobility 91 26% 77 22% 61 17% 106 30% 17 5% 352 100%

Total 1,840 35% 1,110 21% 1,154 22% 956 18% 232 4% 5,292 100%

Oct 1 – Dec 31

Client Age Group by Intervention

0-21 22-64 65+

Unique Clients % Change Unique Clients % Change Unique Clients % Change

2012 2013 2013 2012 2013 2013 2012 2013 2013

Assistive Technology 129 142 10% 1,351 1,193 -12% 1,810 1,317 -27%Children’s Services 998 1,004 1%

Counseling 30 25 -17% 366 285 -22% 583 359 -38%Independent Living SkillsAnd Employment Services

193 168 -13% 1,459 1,209 -17% 2,085 1,906 -9%

Initial Assessment 231 205 -11% 938 795 -15% 2,921 2,498 -14%

Low Vision Services

140 155 11% 998 895 -10% 3,730 3,322 -11%

Orientation and Mobility

335 303 -10% 1,359 1,261 -7% 1,274 924 -27%

Total 1,591 1,587 0% 4,174 3,716 -11% 8,413 7,157 -15%

ServicesOct 1 – Dec 31

Client Hours by Service and Functional Vision Code

0Normal

1Near

Normal

2Moderat

e

3Severe/ Profound Low Vision

4NearTotal Vision Loss (LP)

5Blind (NLP)

9Un-

determined

/ Un-Known

Un-specifie

dClients

Grand Total

Assistive TechnologyUnique Clients 256 389 980 601 256 102 68 1 2,653

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% of Total Clients 10% 15% 37% 23% 10% 4% 3% 0% 100%Total Time (Hrs) 513 759 2,057 1,415 823 390 207 1,135 7,299% of Total Hrs 7% 10% 28% 19% 11% 5% 3% 16% 100%Independent Living SkillsUnique Clients 533 433 822 628 297 93 212 1 3,019% of Total Clients 18% 14% 27% 21% 10% 3% 7% 0% 100%Total Time (Hrs) 1,214 1,079 2,439 1,918 1,411 439 801 592 9,892% of Total Hrs 12% 11% 25% 19% 14% 4% 8% 6% 100%Initial AssessmentUnique Clients 1,013 658 806 534 129 28 330 1 3,499% of Total Clients 29% 19% 23% 15% 4% 1% 9% 0% 100%Total Time (Hrs) 1,023 635 778 490 144 43 354 533 4,000% of Total Hrs 26% 16% 19% 12% 4% 1% 9% 13% 100%Low Vision ServicesUnique Clients 1,175 892 1,170 731 96 8 300 1 4,373% of Total Clients 27% 20% 27% 17% 2% 0% 7% 0% 100%Total Time (Hrs) 2,171 1,734 2,156 1,302 132 6 506 952 8,959% of Total Hrs 24% 19% 24% 15% 1% 0% 6% 11% 100%Orientation and MobilityUnique Clients 335 245 747 485 293 148 235 1 2,489% of Total Clients 13% 10% 30% 19% 12% 6% 9% 0% 100%Total Time (Hrs) 894 613 2,564 1,843 1,579 950 1,131 638 10,211% of Total Hrs 9% 6% 25% 18% 15% 9% 11% 6% 100%Total Unique Clients 2,260 1,801 3,178 2,116 755 286 818 1 11,215Total % of Total Clients 20% 16% 28% 19% 7% 3% 7% 0% 100%Total Time (Hrs) 5,815 4,819 9,993 6,968 4,090 1,829 2,998 3,850 40,361Total % of Total Hrs 14% 12% 25% 17% 10% 5% 7% 10% 100%

PRIORITY AREASStrategic Plan Consultation and Development

After a very productive and informative session with the National Board and all Divisional Chairs in November the final steps have been completed in what has been a two year consultative process. We are pleased to be presenting the 2014-2018 Strategic Plan along with the 2014/15 operating plan and budget for approval.

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E-Learning Roll Out

By the end of the second quarter/early third quarter 85.2% of CNIB staff successfully completed the five e-learning courses, representing 19 modules available to them in the CNIB Learning Centre. All of the modules are available in both English and French. In early October of 2013, e-learning was made available to all CNIB Senior Volunteers with a recommendation to complete the first course entitled Introduction to Our Cause which contains five modules. This group of 226 volunteers included:

National Board and Committees Divisional Boards Regional Leadership Councils Youth Council

Reading Re-Imagined

Reading Re-Imagined – Centre for Equitable Library Access pre-launch planning takes shape. In October, the Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC) commissioned a project executive (Andrew Martin, former CNIB Library Board member) to bring the new not-for-profit organization, formerly referred to as the Hub and now called the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA), to operational readiness, April 2014. Planning underway to identify operational processes required to support CELA while maintaining status quo service delivery for existing CNIB Library clients. A CELA fact sheet (link follows) was prepared for distribution at the Ontario Library Association SuperConference at the end of January.

PDF Version: http://cniblibrary.ca/iguana/uploads/files/Partners%20Program/CELA%20Infosheet.pdf

Accessible WORD Version:http://cniblibrary.ca/iguana/uploads/files/Partners%20Program/CELA%20Infosheet%20-%20Accessible%20Word%20version.docx

We will be discussing this in more detail under a separate agenda item.

STRATEGIC PLAN EXECUTION

Community Based Support

One of our most important and impactful programs continues to be our Adjustment to Vision Loss Program. Run across the country in every province we have approx. 2,500 attendees every quarter.

A very successful Early Intervention Family Life Skills camp was held with 21 participants (parents and children) from across the BC Division focusing on O&M and ILS. The camp is designed to focus on increasing independence and

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mobility for pre–school children and preparing the children for the transition to elementary school.

In November, approximately 14 parents attended Parent Information Night on Technology in Calgary. We saw Children’s Department staff along with Tech staff and a volunteer introduce parents to the various technological devices available. Information on accessibility features of Apple products was also provided.

Story Time with apps was held in Edmonton where clients in attendance enjoyed the exposure to apps and accessibility features of the iPad.

We continue to do presentations to seniors groups and at health fairs across the country. Presentations range from information on CNIB services to awareness of eye diseases to discussions or fall prevention.

In Saskatchewan, CNIB presented at Ecole Victoria to 60 students on the life of Louis Braille and the contemporary use of Braille.

Our Career & Employment team attended Career Trek, “Let’s Get to Work Career Symposium” in Manitoba. The day’s purpose was to provide a "solutions focused" space where the intersections between career development, employment and education can be explored and a greater sense of shared responsibility can be found.

CNIB has opened a second community Low Vision Clinic in Toronto, this one located at Finch Avenue Optometry. The clinic officially opened following an open house event on November 16. The space is shared with a team of Low Vision Optometrists (Dr. George Papadakis, Dr. Sarah Stevens and Dr. Beth Schellenberg), and one Ophthalmologist (Dr. Angus MacDonald, MD). The new clinic location will allow CNIB to continue increasing our presence within the community while strengthening partnerships with eye care professionals.

In Quebec, we had five support groups at Developments of Caregivers with 45 participants and, one support group at École Jacques-Ouellette with 6 students.

We are growing our assistive technology support intervention in Quebec. Areas of support include:

Demos at Apple Store for devices and apps for the blind. Development of Atutor for our online training Development of assistive techno video training online

CNIB became the lead of a multi-agency project designed to raise awareness about the importance of inclusion in New Brunswick. The Vision Rehabilitation Assistant will be coordinating speakers with a disability to share

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their life experience at Elementary and Middle schools across the province beginning in Spring 2014.

Library

About 250 CNIB clients have signed up for a free one-year subscription to Bookshare. Subscriptions are limited and are available on a first-come, first served basis. Promotion is now being extended to other persons with print disabilities through Partner Libraries and disabilities associations.

Client testimonials:“I just signed up for Bookshare. How wonderful to have access to more reading options. Thank you for partnering up and making this happen.”“As part of my Bookshare sign up, I installed Read2Go on my iPhone 5. I then also downloaded my first CNIB Daisy book directly on my phone using Safari, and opened it on my iPhone in Read2Go. Voila!”

More than 4,000 children and youth were invited to participate in the TD Summer Reading Club, 2013. Accessible postcards were sent to Partner libraries to promote our accessible program to their patrons with print disabilities. Face-to-face accessibility training was provided to Toronto Public Library (TPL) staff and webinars to Partner library staff across the country, reaching more than 250 staff. Over 300 children and youth with print disabilities participated, and received more than 8,300 children and young adult titles.

For the Braille Creative Writing Contest, young writers submitted stories and poems, written in braille. Braille was marked for accuracy by CNIB volunteers and creativity judged by a children’s author. This year’s judge was the award-winning Ontario author Helaine Becker. Four young writers from Ontario, Alberta and BC presented their work and received prizes at the

National Braille Conference on October 25. Julia Janzen, from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, had an opportunity to meet Premier Kathleen Wynne and demonstrate braille technology to her. A survey of teachers has provided ideas for increasing participation.www.cnib.ca/writeinbraile

Teacher testimonial:“Carson has a significant visual impairment. He is a print user and has also been learning the braille code as an alternative literacy medium. This is his second year participating in the Braille writing challenge and again it has provided a functional and motivational learning activity that has reinforced both reading and writing.”

A new mobile devices page on the Library website helps clients understand which devices work with our online services and formats. It was ready for

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launch in January, in anticipation of clients receiving technology gifts over the holidays.http://www.cniblibrary.ca/iguana/www.main.cls?surl=mobiledevices

Technical Services:Through the international TIGAR exchange initiative, the Library downloaded and added to its collection 21 French titles from ABAGE (Switzerland) and uploaded 44 (French: 41 and English: 3) titles from our collection to ABAGE (Switzerland), RNZFB (New Zealand), AVH (France) and NOTA (Denmark). Our participating in TIGAR reduces duplication in production of accessible formats thus allowing more alternative format works to be produced without increasing costs, reduces production costs by using publisher files in the production process, and contributes to global efforts to improve access to copyrighted works for people with print disabilities.

Production:Paralympian and world champion rower Victoria Nolan recorded the Daisy audio version of her autobiography, Beyond Vision: The Story of a Blind Rower (published by Iguana Books) in the CNIB recording studio. The publisher’s electronic file expedited braille production and all formats are set to be available at the same time as the print launch. Victoria kindly invited staff and volunteers to join the launch party in Toronto’s historic Distillery District scheduled for the end of February.

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Volunteer Services  Vision Mate volunteers provided one-on-one sighted assistance to more than 500 clients. The hours they contributed equate to 23 FTEs.

To have paid staff to provide this level of service would cost over Net $1.5 Million annually.

“I rely on my Vision Mate volunteer to help me function like a sighted person. It’s important having someone to show me around who I can trust. Sharing an experience that may grow into a trusting partnership is a wonderful gift. Being with a like-minded person has given me the courage to venture into unknown territories and to feel safe and secure with my own abilities....all of these things is what having a volunteer has done for me.” - MS, Client in Edmonton

We had 112 Peer Support Volunteers who facilitated or assisted with groups.

These volunteers contribute more than10,000 hours per quarter in equivalent of 23 FTE’s and more than $1.5 million in annual cost.

“The support group has really helped me; I don’t feel like I’m the only one with vision loss. If I can help somebody, I don’t mind doing that to help them to get over the initial shock of being impaired. I thought I’d never get over it (vision loss). I thought I’d be lying on the chesterfield for the rest of my life. It gives you a purpose to do something, so you don’t feel useless anymore”.- MP; Leduc Sight- Seekers facilitator and CNIB client

Library volunteers contribute more than 6,510 hours of service every quarter.

Volunteers assisted with the production of 989 books and 11 Canadian magazines that were produced entirely in-house. More than 28,000 clients enjoyed CNIB Library services.

“I cannot stress enough how important Braille is to a blind person. It is what makes us literate. The work the volunteers do brailling books for CNIB makes it possible for us to have access to books that we can read on our own. Yes, many books are available in audio format, but nothing can replace the pleasure and comfort of sitting down with a book and reading. Having access to written Braille is also necessary for visually impaired people to learn how to spell properly, format text properly, and to use punctuation properly. These things are not easily achieved when listening. The commitment these volunteers put into learning Braille and spending the time producing it for the CNIB library is a considerable one, and they deserve to be highly commended and rewarded for their hard work and dedication.” SB, Library Client, Kingston ON

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Ambassador program volunteers contributed 1,600 hours, delivering presentations, staffing information tables and giving interviews on the impact of vision loss, how to interact with people with vision loss, CNIB programs and services, and vision health.

We estimate their messages reached more than 7,000 Canadians. “Over thirty years of living with vision loss, CNIB was there to help me

through those difficult years one step at a time – as my sight gradually faded away. Today, as a CNIB Ambassador I hope to inspire people with vision loss to experience life to the fullest. To show others that people who are blind or partially sighted can play an important role as a volunteer by sharing their stories or putting their skills and abilities to work in a volunteer role. CNIB does not charge a fee for the services they provide, and this is one way to say, “Thank You”. Together, we will help all Canadians see beyond vision loss.” - BM, Ambassador Volunteer in Barrie, ON

Knowledge

Research

Research has commenced in support of the new strategic initiative to make vision rehabilitation an integral part of the health care continuum.

We are collaborating with a group of researchers from the University of Waterloo, School of Optometry to investigate the prevalence of myopia in Canadian schoolchildren. A study of this sort has never been conducted in Canada. This study has received funding for a pilot to be conducted in the Waterloo, Ontario region. The protocol has been received ethics approval from the University of Waterloo. Testing started in September and is ongoing.

The Brainport device investigated by CNIB Research has been approved for sale in Canada. CNIB Research Associate, Morgan Ineson has agreed to be the primary trainer involved in demonstrating the device to potential users of the device. CNIB, in turn, will be reimbursed by the Brainport manufacturer for these services. Morgan has trained 5 clients on the use of the Brainport device, one of whom has just purchased a device.

In a partnership that has been growing with New Zealand Blind Foundation, Keith Gordon will be a Researcher in Residence in Auckland New Zealand for the month of March, 2014.

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Public Education

In November, the communications team successfully launched a new media relations AMD, DME awareness campaign, focused on the importance of eye health and the impact of vision loss due to wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME).

Targeting major media markets across Alberta, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, the “Worth a Thousand Words” campaign highlighted the personal stories of CNIB clients living with AMD or DME. These compelling stories were supported by the additional tool of a special digital “photo album” depicting photos of key life events (e.g., a wedding, graduation, family reunion, etc.) that have been digitally altered to show what those events may look like to someone living with AMD- or DME-related vision loss.

The initiative generated significant media attention, with prominent coverage from such regional outlets as the “Toronto Star” and Global TV. Campaign efforts are expected to continue through the month of January with a focus on French-language media in Quebec.

CNIB provided consultation to the City of Calgary Transit in November regarding the development of tactile maps for LRT stations as well as toured new LRT station with city staff to ensure accessibility and provide tips for improvements

In Saskatchewan, under the WorkSafe Saskatchewan partnership, CNIB delivered 30 Eye Safety Presentations in 2013 geared at youth and small businesses.

Dual Specialist, O & M/LVS presented at Saskatoon and area Falls Prevention awareness campaign on tips for safety for low vision and blindness. Other members included local pharmacist, OT, Recreational Therapist from SK health region.

CNIB Sudbury staff partnered with the Shawanaga First Nation to help bring awareness to the area about vision health and vision rehabilitation services available through CNIB. Participants were able to view and learn about various vision enhancement and vision replacement tools.

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Government Relations and Advocacy

CNIB responded to numerous inquiries concerning advocacy and/or accessibility. We participated and assisted many working groups, such as:

Participated on Described Video Best Practices working group. Assisted with development of Neil Squire Society financial transaction

survey. Provided feedback to CTA concerning their work to remove access

barriers for persons with disabilities. Assisted in drafting key messages concerning protection of guide dogs,

access to voting, cornea transplants, access to correctional facilities, and Access Calgary.

Assisted in establishing consumer advisory group for CELA steering committee.

Met with the Consumer Access Group (CAG) representatives November 30 – December 1 in Toronto. Position papers were reviewed; a terms of reference was developed.

We prepared discussion paper concerning service animal legislation. We participated on Alberta Disabilities Forum Home Care Working Group. CNIB met with representatives in many provincial Health departments to

discuss issue of eye exams for children.

In December, CNIB participated in Health Canada’s Non-Insured Health Benefits Home and Community Care workers monthly teleconference call to discuss CNIB’s vision rehabilitation services.

MLA event held November 7th at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building. Approximately 50 MLA’s in attendance. One Minister spoke at the event regarding the new Regina building which is being proposed, and pledged support for the new building.

A meeting was held with the Minister of Education in November regarding the rehabilitation funding for kids in the school system. This has been a long-standing problem and funding needs to be restored so CNIB can provide various services to children in the school system.

In early December, the BC Government announced its intent to hold a series of extensive consultations – including online forums, face-to-face meetings across the province, and the production of a white paper – all culminating with a summit to be held in June 2014.  The stated aim is to make BC “the most progressive region for people living with disabilities in Canada”. Plans are underway in ensuring that blind and partially sighted individuals will be well represented in all facets of the consultation process.

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CNIB partnered with the Canadian Council of the Blind’s local Advocacy and Awareness chapter to host David Lepofsky who delivered a presentation about advocating for a strong and effective Accessibility for Nova Scotians with Disabilities Act. Over 40 members of the disability community attended the two-hour session at the Halifax CNIB Centre to hear Mr. Lepofsky talk about what lessons Nova Scotians can learn from the Ontario and Manitoba experiences.

CNIB delivered a presentation to 20 members of the Nova Scotia Building Advisory Committee in October about building accessibility from a vision loss perspective.  Recommendations on changes to the Nova Scotia building code were given.

Fundraising

Stable performance in philanthropy, with positive year on year growth on net contribution. The performance of CNIB’s fund development team was stable through the third quarter; however, the deficit to budget on income remained at 10.5 per cent year to date. From a net contribution perspective, the period stands at $8.07 million versus a budgeted plan of $9.11 million. The negative variance results from income shortfalls in bequests and underperformance of provincial fundraising; however, bequests are showing signs of positive recovery with an approx. $390,000 improvement in the December results.

Our social gaming group has continued to see improvements in the last quarter, with the variance to budget now improved to a negative 2 per cent. The correlation to the large 647 and Lotto Max prize pools is underpinning the improvement, along with the expansion of lottery kiosks with Walmart Canada.

The fund development team recently undertook an initiative with Ketchum Canada (KCI), a leading fundraising agency, to review CNIB’s nationwide fundraising program, and revitalize/guide the organization’s fundraising activities over the next three years.

Together with KCI, the team has developed a “revenue generating framework”, which is a succinct yet robust strategy with a focus on measurable outcomes – one that will serve as a go-to resource and fundraising roadmap not only for fund development staff, but all CNIB employees. The new framework will be particularly critical as we build momentum in the lead-up to CNIB’s centennial anniversary, laying the groundwork for the significant fundraising and awareness-raising activities that will be undertaken at that time.

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Progress continues to be made in accelerating the growth of CNIB’s monthly donor base through the delivery of door-to-door fundraising campaigns in key urban and suburban markets. Spanning from July 2013 to early January 2014, the team’s Ottawa door-to-door campaign acquired 556 new monthly supporters to CNIB who will donate an estimated $400,000 of combined net income over the next 10 years. Meanwhile, two B.C. door-to-door campaigns (taking place in Victoria and Vancouver) were launched in December with an end-date scheduled for March. After their first month in the market, both of these campaigns showed strong results, reaching almost half of their combined goal in just one third of the time.

As we enter into the last period of the fiscal year, CNIB’s planned giving team is thrilled to announce that it will achieve all of its fiscal year targets for 2014.

TD Bank is highly committed to children’s literacy and to accessibility for persons with disabilities. They partnered with the CNIB Library and public library systems across Canada on the TD Summer Reading Club program for the past three years giving a total of $375,000. TD Bank asked CNIB to be part of Tree Day in October 2014. TD will donate 100 tree saplings and materials to Lake Joe for reforestation and will provide local volunteers from the Mactier TD Bank branch. This activity helps us to enhance our ongoing partnership with them.

Ontario Trillium Foundation confirmed $177,100 over three years to fund a Coordinator of Volunteer Services position and expenses in Kingston and Belleville. Vision Mate, Peer Support and Ambassador programs will each be expanded as a result. This project will improve CNIB’s capacity to reach more individuals who are blind or partially sighted and provide meaningful volunteer opportunities in the community.

Ottawa philanthropist, E. Neville Ward is known to put his ‘pet charities’ under the microscope, asking knowledgeable questions before making gift decisions. To date, his gift to CNIB amounts to $120,000 and after several meetings in 2013 with senior CNIB leadership, Neville made his largest donation to date; a pledge of $90,000, to be paid monthly over the next 36 months beginning immediately. This gift is directed to children and youth services, and to fund DAISY players or equivalent technology.

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Organizational Development

A review of the Human Resources & Volunteer Services organization took place with a goal to providing clarity of programs, roles and processes ensuring a consistent approach to HR & VS programs across the country. New structure will be communicated in February.

Proposed changes to both the DB/DC Pension Plans are being reviewed by our actuaries at Mercer for consideration by the Board of Directors. A new Pension Plan Employee Handbook for DC Plan members is being created. The Pension Website for DB Plan members is near completion.

CNIB’s Benefit Plan Financial Results for the 2013 policy year are expected shortly. The anticipated result of year end operations is another surplus of approximately $1M. We expect to be provided with the results within the next few weeks with a cheque being issued to CNIB by mid-March, 2014. Again, the refund amount is largely due to our continued proactive efforts as it pertains to disability management.

See Beyond Go Beyond (SBGB) celebrations were held across the country once again in October 2013. Lori Davis, Children and Youth Specialist/ILS from Waterloo, was chosen as the 2013 Employee of the Year. Our CEO travelled to Waterloo in mid-December to present her with the award. A post mortem of the SBGB process/celebrations will be conducted with HR Managers and with input from their ED’s to identify the successes and opportunities of the program.

As a follow up to CNIB systems outage in July, a Business Continuity Committee has been formed and work is underway to develop a business continuity framework for CNIB. As a first step in this process, a Business Continuity Contact List (call tree) was compiled and circulated in early December to facilitate communication among the EMT and key staff in the event of an emergency. The list includes alternate phone and email contact details to be used in the event that CNIB systems are temporarily unavailable.

The formal sale of the CNIB building located in Victoria to Urban Core Ventures concluded on February 4th. A 5 year lease back agreement has been consummated for use of space within the existing facility. Some necessary space redesign has commenced and subsequent renovations it is anticipated will be completed by the summer, after which efforts will shift to examining the opportunity to open another office in the Mid Island area of Nanaimo, Qualicum or Parksville.

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The Saskatoon Office settled back into their space just before Christmas following the flood in May. There are still some minor repairs to be completed, but overall the staff are happy to be back in the space. SK is working with Avison Young Commercial Realty to seek a tenant for roughly 3000 sq ft of space in Saskatoon.

The Regina Building Campaign selected a construction manager, Granite Developments and tendered for an Architect in November and Number 10 Architects were selected in the process. Initial building renderings will be worked on in the New Year.

In Quebec, there were a few organizational developments: We are developing a new training tool – model webinar for Information

Technology. There will be a new assessment questionnaire for Quebec, to be

implemented later in the year for Service Delivery.

CNIB clients attended a “Start Smart” session delivered by the Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development (CEED). The two-hour interactive session, held at the CNIB Centre in Halifax, taught the clients the basic how-tos and next steps to starting a business.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & DEVELOPMENT

CNIB participated in the WBU North American Caribbean Region meeting held in Louisville on November 1. Diane Bergeron was voted in as an alternate to the Executive. Also, Diane Bergeron has been asked to participate on the Development Committee of the WBU which is Chaired by National Board member, Charles Mossop.

We participated on the Transforming Braille project. A product has been chosen and a contract has been signed with a supplier.

UFA membership on hold, and the level of participation is to be determined.

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