Dear members of the CDA Institute community,

Four years ago, I penned a note about the Institute’s ambitions for the future. Those were frugal times, with only two full-time staff including myself, but we had all the building blocks required to seize the initiative and build a new momentum: a dedicated and energetic board of directors, a community of stakeholders who cared about Canada’s role in the world, and a mission to advance informed debate on national security issues that everyone could get behind. Looking back though, I thoroughly underestimated where we would be today.

It’s my pleasure to share with you in this document some of the accomplishments we’ve since made. It tells the story of initiatives and outputs that have dramatically grown the size of our readership and subscribers not only here in Canada, but all over the world. The position we are in today was achieved in part thanks to 3 key actions that were taken early and sustained over time.

First, the board developed a strategic plan that focused the organization’s energies on few but impactful lines of operations.

Secondly, we fostered a cultural shift in the organization meant to gather perspectives and create spaces for engagement and collaborative solutions that would bring together government, academia, business, and the NGO sectors together. Instead of pushing ideas out, we put our efforts into pulling ideas in.

Finally, we signed an MOU with DND/CAF in order to maximize coordination and cooperation so that our research and analysis were aligned with national priorities.

I want to thank the amazing national office staff (there are 13 of us now!), our committed board members and fellows, and our government and business partners for the sustained effort all have put in. The achievements of the CDA Institute are yours to celebrate. Together, we are moving the yardstick in the right direction.

Dr Youri Cormier