About TICO

TICO has a number of Committees made up of members of TICO's Board of Directors and industry representatives, which address issues related to TICO's overall mandate, goals and objectives. Currently, there are eleven committees established and you can learn more about each committee by reviewing their individual mandates below.

 

Audit Committee

• Review internal controls operating throughout TICO.
• Review the appropriateness of accounting policies and review any proposed changes in accounting practices or policies and the resulting financial statement impact.
• Review the audited annual financial statements and make recommendations with respect to their approval to the Board.
• Confer with TICO’s auditors as required to discuss their examination into the financial affairs of TICO and receive all recommendations and explanations which TICO’s auditors wish to place before the Committee.
• Make recommendations to the Board with respect to the appointment and remuneration of external auditors to be appointed at each AGM.
• Periodically, review TICO’s investment firms and their fees.
• Review the investment policy on an annual basis.
• Review quarterly investment reports and detailed quarterly financial statements.
• Review and provide advice with respect to the budget prior to presentation to the Board.
• Review insurance coverage annually.

Executive Committee

• Manage emergency issues on an ad hoc basis.
• Give interim support to CEO between Board meetings.
• Review large registrant closures.
• Make recommendations regarding composition and chairmanship of Board committees.
• Participate in crisis management or incident management as required in accordance with the Communications for Major Issues Policy.
• In the event of a significant disruption of TICO's business operations, participating in implementation of hte Business Continuity Plan.
• Conduct an annual review of the TICO Employee Code of Ethics.
• Oversee the development and conduct an annual review of TICO's Business Continuity Plan.

Business Strategy Committee

• Produce TICO's Business Plan and monitor performance measures.
• Refer issues for legislative and regulatory review.
• Planning of TICO's Consumer Awareness Campaign.
• Review and keep current TICO's policies with respect to privacy issues.
• Develop a plan to assess TICO's operational effectiveness and report findings.
• Explore alternate sources of revenue for TICO.

Governance Committee

Governance Model and Policies

• Conduct an annual review of TICO’s Governance Model and make recommendations considering the Board’s role, purpose, core values and responsibilities.
• Be responsible for policies in relation to corporate governance.
• Conduct an annual review of the Board of Directors Code of Conduct and recommend changes when appropriate.
• Annually review the Board and Committee Attendance Policy, which sets out TICO’s expectations with respect to board and committee attendance and sets out the process for dealing with attendance problems and make recommendations if changes are required.
• Review and make recommendations regarding TICO’s Board Committee policies
• Recommend any changes required to TICO’s By-law in relation to governance issues.

Board Composition - Member Recruitment and Retention

• Review composition of the Board, in particular, industry representation on the Board.
• Review  and make recommendations regarding board member recruitment and selection as well as the election process. This will include an annual review of the following:
  • Criteria/Qualifications to be a TICO Board Member.
  • TICO Board Member Profile.
  • TICO Terms of Reference for a Board Member.
  • Criteria for Minister’s Appointments.
  • Board Chair Profile.
  • Board Vice Chair Profile.
  • Compensation Fund Committee Chair Profile.
  • Election of Directors Policy and Campaigning Guidelines.
• Oversee communication materials regarding board member criteria for groups eligible to make appointments to the Board and candidates for election.
• Examine the issue of board member retention, including an annual review of board and committee member remuneration and recommend changes where appropriate.
• Succession planning for Board Chair.

Board Education and Development

• Review and recommend changes to TICO’s Board Orientation process.
• Consider ongoing board training initiatives.
• Develop strategies to enhance board performance.

Board Evaluation

• Ensure annual board evaluation is undertaken.
• Devise a set of basic performance benchmarks to measure board effectiveness.
• Develop a system for evaluating the board’s performance.
• Communicate results of board evaluations.

Other Initiatives

• Further to the Assessment of Consumer Protection Against Financial Instability in the Travel Industry, consider the feasibility of making additional information available for consumers on TICO’s website.
• Consider any other matters referred to the Committee by the Board

Compensation Fund Committee

• Review and recommend to the Board the payment of claims in accordance with Ontario Regulation 26/05.
• Review and monitor the status of appeals to the License Appeal Tribunal regarding denied claims.
• Develop and recommend administrative policies to the Board regarding the administration of the Fund.
• Review and recommend recovery procedures to offset the cost of claims.

Legislative & Regulatory Review Committee

• Recommend legislative and regulatory reform necessary to achieve TICO’s business objectives by:
  • Consulting with Ministry of Consumer Services on policy and legal issues.
  • Securing and managing stakeholder input.
  • Working with the Ministry of Consumer Services to move the recommendations forward through the legislative process.
• Develop a Code of Ethics for TICO Discipline Process.
• Develop policies in relation to administrative penalties.
• Make recommendations to the Board with respect to requirements for individuals who conduct business outside the office of a registrant. Recommended requirements should ensure:
  • a level of professionalism even if the business is being conducted outside the registrant’s office;
  • industry standards are enhanced;
  • consumer monies are protected;
  • consumers receive quality service; and
  • consumers are fully informed.
• Develop a Recommended Best Practices document to assist registrants and outside sales representatives.

Complaints Committee

• Review and resolve, as appropriate, complaints against TICO.
• Provide fair, transparent and accountable procedures for handling registrant and consumer complaints against TICO.
• Develop standards for handling complaints.
• Make recommendations with respect to TICO's complaint handling procedures.
• Review trends of complaints to determine if recommendations can be made to address the cause of complaints.

Education Standards Committee

• Determine the curriculum for the Travel Industry Act, 2002 Education Standards for travel counsellors and supervisor/managers and identify the type of information that should be covered in the education standards curriculum at each level.
• Oversee the development of the Travel Industry Act, 2002 Education Standards Curricula including reviewing, testing and approval.
• Determine how the Travel Industry Act, 2002 Education Standards should be implemented, the timeline for implementation and the costs.
• Oversee the printing and distributing of the educational courses and the developement of on-line versions of the courses.
• Consider equivalency options for Education Standards.
• Develop a communications plan for the delivery of Education Standards.
• Ensure the Travel Industry Act, 2002 Educational Standards are updated on a regular basis.
• Explore the feasibility of other educational initiatives.

Expanded Coverage Committee

• Considering what the Compensation Fund should cover.
• Assessing at what level the Fund should be maintained to ensure adequate protection for consumers.
• Reviewing who should be contributing to the Fund.
• Determining a fair and workable method to assess contributions to the Fund.
• Exploring whether there should be higher financial requirements for entry to the industry.

• Identify potential models for compensation by examining different models from other jurisdictions.
• Conduct a comparative analysis of potential models against Ontario’s current system.
• Identify best practices from the various models analyzed.
• Assess whether the desirable aspects of those models would be workable for Ontario.
• Identify key areas of risk in registrant business practices.
• Consider steps that could be taken to reduce those risks.
• Explore whether fee reductions could be used as an incentive to encourage registrants to meet higher standards and reward financially stable registrants.
• Review definition of “travel agent.”
• Consider whether registrants should be required to pay into the Fund on sales where no commission is earned.
• Consider whether registrants should be required to pay into the Fund if the transaction is not covered by the Fund.
• Consider whether registrants should be required to pay for end supplier.

• Compensation will be sustained at a level adequate to address the potential for failure in the industry.
• The needs of consumers will remain a first priority in any change in the compensation mechanism.
• The travel industry perceives that the potential liability on the industry for third party failure is unfair.

Consumer Advisory Committee

• To provide the President/CEO with observations, advice and recommendations with respect to consumer issues.
• To monitor general trends vis-a-vis consumer complaints.
• To gather information on programs employed by other professions that are intended to increase consumer protection.
• To develop recommendations that will enhance consumer confidence and protection.
• To gather and exchange information on issues of interest and importance to consumers.
• To gather information on programs and/or implementation of strategies for programs that will advance consumer protection.