OTTAWA—CPIA is asking members to pay a special assessment to help it overcome its financial shortfall as the association continues to negotiate with FARAs about its future structure and long-term operations.

In mid-December a letter went to its 300-plus members asking each one to pay the assessment based on an estimation of the member company sales. This is in addition to the regular annual membership dues. The drive is to replace revenue that used to come from a sponsorship agreement with a trade show. That agreement is now ended.

“We have asked each member directly if they see value in CPIA,” said president Bob Elliott.

In other news, Elliott also said that plans to strike a task force to examine the future structure of CPIA were shelved after a meeting in late November with FARA leaders. The task force was agreed to at the CPIA annual meeting in late October. But Elliott said the association must first deal with its short-term funding issues before turning to longer-term plans.

Also in the works is an effort to strike a new operational agreement with the FARAs, and Elliott said he’s currently in talks with three of them—two in Alberta and Saskatchewan—to hammer out a new agreement. Manitoba, the Atlantic provinces, and Quebec do not have a FARA. All existing agreements with FARAs ended on December 31. Since then, Ontario and B.C. have with elected to withdraw their board representative from CPIA.