The Governance and Equity Committee is composed of seven members, five of whom are Board members. The CBA vice-president serves as chair. The committee has the following responsibilities:

• Reviews overall governance of the organization and recommends changes when required, including the development of effective and transparent bylaws, regulations, policies and procedures
• Accountable for implementation of equity policy and actual diversity across the CBA
• Defines, proposes and manages the annual Board self-evaluation process
• Defines and proposes criteria for Board members
• Manages Board election, and analyzes applications for completeness, including Law Society check
• Reviews Policy Committee composition, selection criteria and process in consultation with Sections
• Reviews Finance Committee composition and selection process
• Reviews human resources policies and practices
• Defines, proposes and manages CEO selection and performance evaluation processes
• Determines and manages dispute resolution processes within governance bodies and between governance bodies and staff
• Oversees the work of its subcommittees and reports to the Board on their work
• Selects recipients of and administers the Viscount Bennett Fellowship, Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law, Louis St-Laurent Award of Excellence and other awards referred by the Board

Subcommittees

The Governance and Equity Committee has three subcommittees:

The Equity Subcommittee is dedicated to achieving equity in the legal profession, in particular on the basis of sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, age or disability. It promotes awareness of equity issues in the profession and ways to eliminate discrimination, develops resources to assist the profession in achieving equity, and monitors the status of equity and diversity in the profession. This subcommittee has five members, including two Board members and one Policy Committee member.

The Sections Subcommittee assists with coordination and communications among Sections. It also oversees appointments to Bench and Bar Committees for the Federal Courts and Tax Court. There are five members.

The Well-Being Subcommittee identifies priorities, projects and initiatives that are of importance to the profession as they relate to mental health and wellness.

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