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 ten 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 accounting and investment policies on an annual basis
  • Review quarterly investment reports and financial statements
  • Review audited financial statements and recommend their approval to the Board
  • Review director's and officers' liability insurance prior to renewal
  • Review TICO's annual budget

Executive Committee
  • Manage emergency issues on an ad hoc basis
  • Give interim support to CEO between Board meetings
  • Review large closures
  • Make recommendations regarding composition of Board committees

Business Strategy Committee
  • Produce TICO's business plan and monitor performance measures
  • Develop a system of administrative penalties
  • Develop business policies on key issues of TICO authority (e.g. misleading advertising and financial compliance)
  • Conduct an annual review of the Code of Ethics and the Board of Director's Code of Conduct - Develop and plan consumer awareness campaigns
  • Make recommendations to the Board with respect to alternate methods of financing the Compensation Fund that would address industry concerns while meeting consumer needs
  • Review and keep TICO's policies current with respect to privacy issues
  • Develop a plan to assess TICO's operational effectiveness and report findings

Governance Committee
  • Clarify the Board's role, purpose, core values and responsibilities - Determine and articulate TICO's governance model
  • Review current board member recruitment process - Set criteria for board member recruitment and selection
  • Communicate board member criteria to groups eligible to make appointments to the Board
  • Review TICO's board orientation process
  • Examine the issue of board member retention
  • Devise a set of basic performance benchmarks to measure board effectiveness
  • Develop a system for evaluating the Board's performance
  • Communicate results of board evaluation
  • Develop a work plan to enhance board performance
  • Review TICO's committee structure
  • Be responsible for policies in relation to corporate governance.

Compensation Fund Committee
  • Review and recommend to the Board the payment of claims in accordance with Regulation 26/05
  • Review and monitor the status of appeals to the License Appeal Tribunal of denied claims

Legislative & Regulatory Review Committee
  • Achieve regulatory and legislative reform necessary to achieve TICO's business objectives, as set out in the TICO business plan
  • Consult with the Ontario Ministry of Small Business andConsumer Serviceson policy and legal issues
  • Secure and manage stakeholder input
  • WorkwithMinistry of Small Business andConsumer Services to move the recommendations forwardthrough the legislative process

Complaints Committee
  • Review and resolve complaints against TICO, as appropriate
  • 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

EducationStandards Committee
  • Develop mandatory educational standards on a two-tierbasis (supervisor/manager and travel counsellor)
  • Include standards such as knowledge of the Travel Industry Act, 2002 and Regulation, Code of Ethics, business practices and basic travel knowledge
  • Define basic travel knowledge on a two-tier basis
  • Oversee the development of the education standards curricula
  • Develop the implementation and enforcement mechanism
  • Develop a communications plan for education standards
  • Ensure the educational standards are updated ona regular basis
  • Explore the feasibility of other educational initiatives

E-commerce Committee
  • Review TICO's services to determine any area in which such services could be improved through the use of the Internet
  • Identify areas where consumers may not be protected when they purchase travel services online and provide options as to how TICO may address these issues
  • Identify any challenges posed by regulating the sale of travel services in an e-commerce environment and provide any potential solutions
  • Recommend legislative and regulatory changes in relation to e-commerce
  • Liaise with provincial counterparts and federal authorities on emerging e-commerce issues and the development of a standard
  • Play a role in educating the Board and TICO stakeholders about e-commerce issues including the development of informational literature

Alternate Finance Committee

  • Assess at what level the Fund should be maintained to ensure adequate protection for consumers.
  • Review who should be contributing to the Fund
  • Determine a fair and workable method to assess contributions to the Fund
  • Explore 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
  • 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
  • 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 failures

Consumer Advisory Committee

  • To provide the President/CEO with observations, advice and recommendations with respect to consumer issues.
  • To monitor general trends vis-à-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.