The Canadian Chapter has been an informal organization for a long time. In the early days, the Chapter was not a legal entity but rather a voluntary association of individuals who were members of the IIC in London.
In 2000, the Canadian Chapter initiated an annual Canadian Chapter conference in Ottawa where the speakers included the Minister of Heritage Canada (now Canadian Heritage), the Minister of Industry (now Industry, Science and Economic Development) and the Chair of the CRTC. This conference (other than in years affected by the Covid-19 pandemic) generally attracts 200 – 250 participants. Speakers address broadcasting and telecommunications issues and, more recently, related issues like privacy, copyright, competition, artificial intelligence, 5G, social media, cybersecurity etc.
It is the neutral, non-political nature of the forum which has been one of its underlying strengths. The IIC Canadian Chapter board continues to have representatives of Canadian Heritage, ISED and the Chair of the CRTC as well as private sector members. In recent years, the IIC Canadian Chapter has also taken over the operation of a biennial conference formerly put on by the Law Society of Upper Canada (now the Law Society of Ontario).
