CAA members are dedicated to upholding the highest standards of avalanche safety, and are committed to life-long learning and pursuit of excellence in their fields.

Vision
The Canadian public has the highest degree of confidence in the avalanche safety programs and services delivered by CAA members.

Mission
We ensure that our diverse membership of avalanche practitioners meets the highest standards, and adhere to best practices to secure the confidence of governments, industry and Canadians.

We do this by:

• Protecting the public interest by ensuring members adhere to the CAA's Code of Ethics 
• Representing CAA members who are professionally engaged in avalanche work in Canada
• Maintaining, monitoring and enforcing standards of education and qualifications for continued membership in the association
• Facilitating the exchange of technical information between persons engaged in avalanche safety programs
• Supporting public avalanche awareness by acting as a resource base
• Encouraging and promoting avalanche safety research and development
• Providing professional avalanche education

Scope Statements, Bylaws, Code of Ethics & Implementation Guide

Every CAA member should understand the purpose of these governance documents and be familiar with them to meet his or her obligations.

CAA Scope Statements

Every CAA member should understand the purpose of these statements. These statements enable members to meet their obligations, and communicate effectively with the public or employers about the range of services offered by the CAA membership as a whole.

Scope of the Profession Statement
The CAA Scope of Profession Statement describes in broad, non-exclusive terms the range of avalanche risk management services performed across the entirety of the CAA membership. Learn more

Scope of Practice Statements 
Each CAA membership category for individuals come with a scope of practice. The scope of practice for each category broadly defines the range of activities and services a CAA member in that category is authorized to perform. The scope of practice statements offer broad direction on whether a member can lead or participate in avalanche operations or education. For more detail visit the Member Category Scope of Practice Statements page.  

CAA Bylaws, Code of Ethics and Code of Ethics Implementation Guide

• The CAA’s Bylaws outline the CAA’s governing powers with respect to members, and obligations and rights of members in the context of the association.
• The Code of Ethics provides clear standards of ethical conduct that CAA members must meet to fulfil their duty to the public, employers, the association and fellow members.
• The Code of Ethics Implementation Guide details each ethical standard in the Code for its meaning and implications to assist members in their daily practice; it may also serve all parties involved where an allegation comes forth that a member is in breach of one or more ethical standards of the Code.

Continuing Professional Development

Avalanche Professionals, Avalanche Practitioners and Basic and Advanced Avalanche Educators must abide by the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) guidelines. Members must track their CPD annually in the CAA Activity Tracking Sheet. Members are not required to submit their CPD activity record to the CAA however; the Membership Committee annually selects a number of members who are eligible to be audited at which time the selected members must be able to submit their CPD record for review. For the Activity Tracking Sheet, CPD Policy and more information, please see the CPD webpage. 

Strategic Plan 2022-25

The CAA's 2022-2025 Strategic Plan describes the organization’s high level direction and focus up to the year 2025. The Goals and Objectives set in the plan will determine the priorities for the CAA's programs and activities and provide guidance for the board of directors, committees and staff. The plan is visited at least annually for potential revisions and is the basis for board, committee and staff workplans.

Key themes for this plan are revising membership categories and requirement to meet the needs of members and the public interest as well as new goals that focus on mental heath and diversity, equity and inclusion.

The CAA is a not-for-profit Society under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. Corporation number: 986135-1. The CAA is not a registered charity.