2024–2025 CRPA Accomplishments: Update from the CRPA Board of Directors

The day after the annual general meeting marked the beginning of a new term for the CRPA Board of Directors. We bid farewell to outgoing board members Jeff Fleming, Jeff Dovyak, and Sheila MacMahon, and we welcomed new members Josip Zic, Rhonda Buchy, and Ceila Figel.

Major accomplishments

Looking back on the past year, the board is proud to share the following major accomplishments:

• We completed our new website design and updated its content.
• We reviewed and updated the board position descriptions. The terms of reference for all committees, subcommittees, and working groups were reviewed and either updated, completed, or created (as applicable) and posted on our website.
• The CRPA Language Policy, including the procedures and workload of the Translation Committee, was reviewed, updated, and posted on our website.
• We hosted the Serving the CRPA (Part II) webinar in April.
• CRPA Bulletin costs were reviewed. No changes were made to the current structure, but advertising revenue continues to be a challenge after the adoption of the electronic format. Tanya Vlaskalin replaced Dave Niven as chief editor in January. Thank you both!
• We received an additional $10K in funding from Health Canada through the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) after our current CNSC funding agreement ended on March 31, 2025. The application for continuation of this funding is being discussed for the new term.
• A request for proposal (RFP) for Financial Audit Services was distributed in August 2024. Finding a chartered accountant firm licensed to work in Ontario and willing to take on a non-profit association is challenging. We retained the services of the Sarnia office of TurnerMoore for the 2024 year-end processing and will continue with the RFP process in fall 2025.
• Jeff Fleming (past president) represented CRPA at the International Radiation Protection Association congress (IRPA16). For the first time, CRPA also sent its nominee for the Young Professional Radiation Protection Award (Daniel Cardenas).
• We launched the Adelene N.T. Gaw Young Professional’s Service Award to honour Adelene’s legacy of hard work and dedication to CRPA and promoting radiation protection in Canada and internationally. Adelene joined CRPA in 2014 and passed away in May 2023. The inaugural award was presented to Matt Bernacci, chair of the Students and Young Professionals Committee (SYPCOM), at the banquet in Edmonton.
• CRPA celebrated a milestone 45th anniversary at the banquet in Edmonton. All guests were gifted a boxed commemorative pen.
• CRPA will be managing the administration of a $10,000 scholarship fund gifted by the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada.

Your 2025–2026 board of directors:

• President: Tara Hargreaves
• President-elect: Josip Zic
• Past President: Corie Houldsworth
• Secretary: Tanya Vlaskalin
• Treasurer: Mojgan Soleimani
• Director of Communications: Ali Shoushtarian
• Director of Professional Development: Rhonda Buchy
• Director of Internal Affairs: Jill Robertson
• Director of External Affairs: Celia Figel

Fun fact: Did you know that 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of Mojgan Soleimani serving as CRPA Treasurer and Sue Singer as CRPA Secretariat? This dynamic duo has contributed greatly to the success of CRPA over the past decade, and they continue to work closely together in dedicated service to the organization. Thank you both!

Looking ahead:

We look forward to the coming year and have several projects planned. As always, we remain committed to serving the members of CRPA.