July 2025 President's Note

Happy July,

I hope you enjoyed Canada Day, and your summer is off to a terrific start! With the strong renewed patriotism across our country, this Canada day felt even more special.

In keeping with the season, I’m looking forward to raising a toast with you at our CMA Summer Social on July 17. It’s a fun way to reconnect with friends, meet new peers and celebrate our profession.

With Canada’s strong performance in Cannes, we have lots to celebrate. It was inspiring to attend and share the experience through our CMA Connect podcast episodes from Cannes. The week ended on a high note with our Canadian Young Lions teams bringing home a Gold in Design and a Bronze in Media.

The celebration of Canada’s creative leadership will continue this fall with our CMA Awards. Entries are arriving daily - and the July 17 deadline for creative submissions is fast approaching - so you only have a few weeks left.  Members benefit from lower entry fees.

You have until August 7 to enter for one of our six Special Awards, which include the Global Creative Award, B2B Marketing Award and Data Driven Marketing Award to name a few. As an added bonus, these awards are free to enter.

AI continues to be a key focus for marketing and business, which is why the CMA provides a myriad of ways to learn, understand and leverage AI responsibly. Our weekly CMA’s Mastery Series of playbooks are a terrific example of our comprehensive AI initiatives that are designed to futureproof Canadian marketers.

With the rapidly evolving consumer, technological, and business landscape, curiousity and constant learning are crucial to a successful marketing career. Providing agile professional development programs is another powerful way the CMA can help futureproof you and your teams. Here are a few ways you can benefit:

• Next week (July 8), we’re hosting a live info session for anyone interested in learning more about our Chartered Marketer program. It’s Canada’s only professional marketing designation, and provides a significant differentiator in a highly competitive profession
• Our fall term for our CMA Digital Courses are all now open for registration
• We offer a wide range of customized In-house Training programs to meet the unique needs of your business and team
• Our Digital Marketing Skills Canada program is an exclusive opportunity for senior marketers in eligible innovative sectors to receive 100% funding for the Chartered Marketer (CM) designation 

As the voice of marketing in Canada, the CMA brings together the broad marketing ecosystem to discuss important trends and topics. It’s an amazing community and another of the many ways we are futureproofing the profession. 

We’re now recruiting for CMA Council members for the new term, which starts in September. Joining our Councils is a powerful way to benefit from our thriving and inclusive community, and to share thought leadership. We’re committed to having a Council community that’s as diverse and engaging as the profession we represent and I encourage you to apply.

We announced our 2025-26 Co-Chairs at our CMA Council celebration in June, and they have big plans for the term ahead. 

As busy as we all are, it’s important to disconnect from work and reconnect with friends, family and ourselves. Vacations are key to our personal and professional success -- they increase our productivity and creativity and lower stress. They’re also a lot of fun. I’m heading to a cottage in Quebec later this month and I hope you have plans to relax and recharge too.

Warmly, Alison
President & CEO