Terms of reference for the Independent Advisory Committee for Governor in Council Appointments to the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors (2023-2024) 

In 2015, the Government of Canada committed to reviewing the process by which members are appointed to the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors to ensure independent, merit-based appointments.

Under the leadership of a non-partisan Independent Advisory Committee, selection processes held in 2017-18 for the positions of Chairperson, President and Director, as well as in 2022-23 for the position of Director, resulted in the recommendation of highly qualified candidates while achieving gender parity and reflecting Canada’s diversity.

Consistent with this approach, and in line with the Yale Report issued by the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel in January 2020, a non-partisan Advisory Committee has been established to conduct a new selection process for the full-time position of President of CBC/Radio-Canada.

Pursuant to the Broadcasting Act, CBC/Radio-Canada’s Board of Directors consists of 12 directors, including the Chairperson and the President, to be appointed by the Governor in Council to hold office during good behaviour for a term not exceeding five years and who may be removed at any time by the Governor in Council for cause.

On this page

• Mandate
• Composition of the Advisory Committee
• Length of Terms
• Remuneration
• Support
• Recommendations
• Recommendation Process
• Conflict of Interest
• Confidentiality
• Reporting

Mandate

The Independent Advisory Committee for Appointments to the CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors (Advisory Committee) is an independent and non-partisan body with a mandate to conduct a Governor in Council selection process to provide the Minister of Canadian Heritage with recommendations of highly qualified candidates for the position of President of CBC/Radio-Canada.

The Advisory Committee will be guided by published, merit-based criteria to identify Canadians who could lead CBC/Radio-Canada into its next chapter while remaining true to its mandate.

Composition of the Advisory Committee

Members of the Advisory Committee are named by the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

The Advisory Committee is to consist of nine members, one of whom is to be named as Chairperson, from one or more of the following groups:

• prominent Canadians from the public and private sector fields, including those with experience in broadcasting;
• representatives from the cultural sector across Canada, including francophones from Quebec; and
• Indigenous and other equity-deserving groups.

While one member of this Advisory Committee will be the current Chairperson of CBC/Radio-Canada’s Board of Directors, he will not be the Chairperson of this Committee.

To respect the independence of Advisory Committee members, there will be no political representation on this Committee.

No official from the Department of Canadian Heritage or the Privy Council Office will be a member of the Advisory Committee.

Length of Terms

Members of the Advisory Committee are to be named for a period of six months, with the possibility of extension.

Remuneration

The Advisory Committee members are not paid for their time.

Support

The Advisory Committee will be supported by a Secretariat within the Department of Canadian Heritage and an executive search firm.

Recommendations

Where possible, the Advisory Committee will provide to the Minister a list names of highly qualified candidates to consider for appointment to the position of President of CBC/Radio-Canada.

Recommendation Process

The members of the Advisory Committee will:

1. observe the highest standards of impartiality, integrity and objectivity in their consideration of all potential candidates;
2. organize their work and responsibilities efficiently, which may include the creation of sub-committees to undertake certain tasks;
3. apply fairly and with consistency the criteria provided in the Notice of Opportunity in assessing whether potential candidates meet the qualifications for appointment;
4. conduct interviews to assess whether potential candidates meet the knowledge, skills and ability qualifications for appointment;
5. establish a list of qualified candidates for appointment based on selection criteria, achieving gender parity and truly reflecting Canada’s diversity; and
6. declare any direct or indirect personal interest or professional or business relationship in relation to any candidate if such an interest or relationship could reasonably be considered to represent an actual or perceived conflict of interest:
   • the declaration must include a statement as to any gifts or hospitality received by the member from the candidate;
   • if such a declaration is made, the Advisory Committee must decide, having regard to the nature of the relationship, if the member must withdraw from any deliberation about the candidate; and
   • if the Advisory Committee decides that the member must withdraw from any deliberation in relation to a candidate, those deliberations are undertaken by the remaining members of the Advisory Committee.

Conflict of Interest

While the Advisory Committee may be composed of some members with broadcasting experience, it will be important to ensure that no member of the Advisory Committee is in a real or perceived conflict of interest with respect to CBC/Radio Canada.

Confidentiality

All personal information provided to, and deliberations of, the Advisory Committee are confidential and must be treated in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act.

Any records created or received by the Advisory Committee members that are under the control or will be under the control of the Department of Canadian Heritage and Privy Council Office are subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

The members of the Advisory Committee must maintain as confidential any information brought before them in the conduct of their work.

Members must sign a confidentiality agreement as a precondition of them being named to the Advisory Committee.

No candidate is to be named publicly without their prior written consent.

Reporting

Within three months of the conclusion of the selection process, the Advisory Committee is required to provide a report, in both official languages, to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, that contains information on the process, including on the execution of the terms of reference and statistics relating to the applications received.

In addition, the report may provide recommendations for improvements to the process.

The report must be made public.