Statement from the Canadian Marketing Association on COVID-19

Concerns about COVID-19 have been dominating the news cycles and are now starting to impact decisions regarding public gatherings.  While the overall public health risk remains low at this point, event planners are beginning to act with caution to limit the potential for the virus to spread.

Given the uncertainty around the spread of COVID-19 and the concerns expressed by some of our members, the CMA has decided to postpone all major events scheduled for March and April 2020. These include:

• March 25      Exclusive Breakfast: DoubleVerify
• April 15        CMAb2b
• April 28        Spring Mixer
• April 30        Exclusive Breakfast: Environics Analytics

Already registered attendees will be notified shortly and we will notify anyone who registered to attend an event once the new date is set. You can also check our calendar of events and experiences.

We will be evaluating the situation on an ongoing basis to determine any impact on events outside the March/April window. 

Smaller events and meetings with less than 50 attendees, such as Seminars, CMA Cafés, Councils and Committees, are not impacted at this point and will proceed with enhanced precautions, including the following: 

• requiring strong disinfection practices at our venues
• providing hand sanitizer
•  discouraging any physical contact, such as handshaking
•  providing wrapped, single-serve food options, and
• asking anyone who is unwell to not attend.

There is no impact on online courses or webinars.

CMA will provide refunds to anyone who does not attend an event due to ill health.  Otherwise, if an individual decides not to attend a still-scheduled event, we will be happy to provide a credit for a future event.

Thank you for your understanding as we all navigate this dynamic situation. We will communicate with you as we continue to ensure that our top priority is the health and safety of our members, attendees, staff and volunteers. 

Please continue to check our website for event and experience updates as they become available at www.CMAcalendar.ca.