The CBA provides our members with valuable resources, information and opportunities for professional development and networking. Through our communications channels this year, we shared relevant news, insights and best practices to help members stay informed and engaged.

Our marketing strategies focused on offering early-bird incentives to promote in-person national conferences. We used proven tactics to increase our registration numbers and technology tools to execute events and measure our progress.

This was an outstanding year for CBA Business Development, even in the face of challenging market conditions. We surpassed our overall revenue target of $1,844,250, reaching more than $1,985,000* in revenue for the 2023–2024 fiscal year. Our Professional Development Sponsorships were a significant contributor to this revenue. We exceeded our ambitious target of $355,000 in this category by 23%, despite hosting fewer in-person events than originally planned. We also exceeded our advertising sales target by 45%.

*As of July 1^st, 2024

Business development by the numbers

We welcomed new suppliers to the CBA Advantage program, a notable achievement for our team. Enterprise Holdings—the parent company for Alamo, Enterprise and National—joined as our new rental car supplier after our previous supplier reduced compensation and service standards. AV-CANADA also became our new audio-visual supplier. In addition to the CBA member discount, they are offering a 25% discount to employees at CBA branches and National Office. We are on track to achieve CBA Advantage targets.

On top of our accomplishments this year, we forged a new partnership with Dell Technologies to deliver a three-part webinar series on cybersecurity. This initiative not only generated revenue and addressed a gap in our educational expertise, but also provided free CPD-accredited webinars to CBA members. Dell reported a record number of registrants for this program, with almost 700 CBA member sign-ups.

Our reach and impact

CBA website

We continued our work on the new CBA.org website, including site design, development and content migration. The website will feature a more modern interface and content that’s easier to find. Our members will enjoy a better user experience and improved content integration from across the CBA. During the year, our website had 3.1 million views and a total of 901,503 visitors.

Newsletters

Our online newsletters remain an incredibly effective way to reach our membership. Our members receive vital, curated information based on their interests and preferred law sections. Some issues have reached as many as 30,000 members in both official languages.

Social media

This year, we made it a priority to improve our social media strategy and share high-quality, engaging content in both English and French on all CBA social channels. We continued to see substantial growth in followers and audience engagement, with growing audiences on all platforms.

CBA posts related to government submissions, national conferences and media statements were among the most viewed topics across all channels. We ended the year with a total of over 95,300 followers, up 12% over the previous year, and a total of 4.7 million impressions. 

Podcasts

We continued to bring CBA members and the public into important conversations through our podcasts. With over 30 episodes released, we broached relevant and sometimes difficult topics. Popular conversations included access to justice, artificial intelligence and the state of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

One highlight was our special podcast mini-series to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the CBA Touchstones for Change, Equality, Diversity and Accountability Report. The lead author and some of the original task force members joined us to discuss the context and history of this groundbreaking publication. 

CBA National Magazine

In keeping with our promise of being a trusted source to make sense of trends and developments affecting the legal profession, we published over 200 articles in CBA National this year. The magazine acts as an important amplifier of the CBA’s policy and advocacy work to a national audience. It continues to bridge the gap between complex issues and the public by providing expert analysis of topics such as law reform, innovation, reconciliation and access to justice. Every year, CBA National features an average of 400 members, showcasing their expertise, thought leadership and achievements.

Canadian Bar Review

The Canadian Bar Review celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2023. Since its founding, it has stood as a trusted publisher of the highest quality legal scholarship. The publication plays an instrumental role in Canada’s legal circles, shaping discussions on important issues. The Canadian Bar Review is the CBA’s bilingual, open-access and peer-reviewed journal. It aims to serve the profession, the bench, the bar and the academic community.

Our reach and impact by the numbers