The Program Committee shall be responsible for:

• setting general policy for all scientific meetings organized by the Society
• fostering innovation in Annual Meetings and evaluating the results
• fostering regional scientific meetings.

The Meetings Co-ordinator, in addition to chairing the committee, shall be responsible for:

• co-ordinating the activities of the Program Chair, the Local Arrangements Chair, and the individual in the Office responsible for dealing with registration matters, so as to ensure the success of the meeting
• soliciting bids from potential candidate sites for the organization of future meetings.

By-Laws Relating to the Meetings Co-ordinator and Program Committee.

10.7 The Meetings Co-ordinator shall:
a) chair the Program Committee;
b) advise the Board of Directors on matters of policy for all scientific meetings organized by or sponsored by the Society; and
c) in general, perform all the duties incidental to the Meetings Co-ordinator and such related duties as may be assigned from time to time by the Executive Committee or by the Board of Directors.

15.1 The Society shall hold at least one general meeting each year in Canada at a time and place to be decided by the Board of Directors on the advice of the Meetings Co-ordinator. Additional general meetings shall be held whenever requested by twenty individual members in good standing or by twelve members of the Board of Directors. Such request must be filed with the Executive Secretary at least sixty days prior to the date of such a meeting.

16.3 The Program Committee shall be chaired by the Meetings Co-ordinator and shall be responsible for setting general policy for all scientific meetings organized by or sponsored by the Society.

Note:

The position of Meetings Co-ordinator was instituted through a modification to the By-Laws at the Annual General Meeting of the Society on 27 May 2008, and approved by Industry Canada on 5 August 2008. Prior to this the Chair of the Program Committee was filled by an appointed Officer with the title of Program Secretary.

Notes:

• At a meeting of the Board of Directors held on 4 May 1986, a report from the Program Committee recommended that the locations of meetings should be governed by the following concerns:

  • the energy and talents of potential local organizers;
  • the facilities of the potential sites interpreted in the broadest sense;
  • that the holding of a meeting has an important meaning to the host statistical community - and that no group should be denied this benefit for geographic reasons;
  • that, where possible, locations should be determined early, perhaps two years in advance;
  • that all types of members, from university, government and industry, should be encouraged to host a meeting.

  At the same meeting the Board of Directors decided to establish the position of Program Secretary in order to provide continuity and in order to facilitate long-range planning. It was suggested that there should be an attempt to plan for a five-year horizon. The Program Secretary is responsible for maintaining a booklet on Program Guidelines for Annual Meetings of the Statistical Society of Canada, and for ensuring that Program Chairpersons are provided with copies upon appointment.

• At the 1991 June Board Meeting it was recommended that “the composition of the committee change so that all future identified organizers be members or observers, that planning for Annual Meetings be 3 years ahead and that the Program Chairperson be selected by whomever will be President at the time the Program Chairperson is to serve.”
  
  The following motions were also adopted:
  • that any person appointed as Program or Local Arrangements Chairperson join the Program Committee as soon as the appointment takes effect
  • that the Local Arrangements Committee ensure there is on-site daycare provided during the scientific meetings.
• At the 1991 Fall Board of Directors Meeting a motion was passed that the Chair of the Bilingualism Committee be a member of the Program Committee.
• At the 1994 Spring Board Meeting, a motion was passed that the Program Secretary revise the Program Guidelines, in consultation with the Bilingualism Committee, to make sure that the bilingualism policy is implemented. In particular, steps should be taken so that a suitably bilingual person proofreads the Program.
• At the 1994 Fall Board Meeting, a motion was passed that the Executive Committee establish a task force to oversee implementation of the Society's policy on bilingualism for Annual Meetings, in particular, to ensure a fully bilingual program.
• At the 2000 June Board Meeting, a motion was passed to confirm the practice of having invited speakers register and pay registration fees continue, but that invited speakers who are not SSC members should pay the SSC member rate. Another motion specified that the Program Chairs will continue to be allowed the flexibility of scheduling sessions parallel to the Pierre Robillard and CJS Addresses, but that in scheduling such parallel sessions, they should take into consideration the importance of these Addresses.

• At the 2005 October Board meeting the following motions were approved.

  
  Refund Policy for SSC's Annual Meeting (revised at September 2017 Executive Meeting)
  
  1. All cancellations must be submitted in writing to info@ssc.ca and treasurer@ssc.ca;
  2. Cancellations received by 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time on the Sunday three weeks in advance of the Annual Meeting will be subject to a cancellation fee of $50. A processing fee might also be charged by iATS for cancellations;
  3. Any cancellation received after the date noted in point 2 above will not be refunded;
  
  Note: Refunds will be issued for the meeting only. The membership fee will not be refunded

  
  Registration Policy for Speakers
  
  All speakers must pay registration fees. Invited papers pay the member's rate, whether they are SSC members or not. Speakers have until the early-bird deadline to register. If they are not registered by that date, their paper will be withdrawn. In practice, right after the early-bird deadline, the list of speakers who have not registered yet will be sent to the Program Chair who will contact them (with cc to the session organizer in the case of invited speakers) to warn them that if they have not registered within one week, their paper will be withdrawn. Those who will not have registered by that second deadline will have their paper withdrawn.

  
  Note:
  
  The practice referred to above of extending by as much as a week the early-bird registration deadline for Invited Speakers to register is one that is at the discretion of organizers. Circumstances may require strict adherence to the early-bird registration deadline.

• At the October 2007 Board meeting the Bilingualism Committee recommended that at SSC Annual meetings:
  • Presenters be encouraged to give their talk in one language and to have their slides in the other language.
  • The information on the language used for the presentation and the slides be added to the program.