Canadian AIDS Society

Canadian AIDS Society
Abbreviation CAS
Formation 1988
Type Registered Charity
Headquarters Ottawa, ON
Location
  • #602 170 Laurier W, Ottawa, ON
Official language
English, French
Key people

Gary Lacasse(Executive Director)

Greg Riehl (President)
Website cdnaids.ca

The Canadian AIDS Society (CAS) is a national coalition of numerous community-based AIDS service organizations across Canada.

Registered as a charity since 1988, CAS has a mandate to improve the response to HIV/AIDS across all sectors of society, and to support people and communities living with HIV/AIDS.[1]

History

Establishment

CAS was established after the first two national conferences on HIV/AIDS in Montreal (1985) and Toronto (1986) to act as a national umbrella organization for AIDS service organizations in Canada.[2] The original founding member organizations were:

  • AIDS Calgary Awareness Association
  • AIDS Committee of London
  • AIDS Committee of Ottawa
  • AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay
  • AIDS Committee of Toronto
  • AIDS Committee of Windsor
  • AIDS Network of Edmonton
  • AIDS Regina
  • AIDS Saskatoon
  • AIDS Vancouver
  • AIDS Vancouver Island
  • Comité sida aide Montréal (C-SAM)
  • Metro Area Committee on AIDS (Halifax)
  • Newfoundland and Labrador AIDS Association
  • Winnepeg Gay Community Health Centre

Before CAS became a registered charitable organization with paid staff in Ottawa in 1988, a voluntary secretariat steered the organization operating out of the AIDS Network of Edmonton office.

Structure

Governance

CAS is governed by a board of directors that includes two representatives from each region of Canada, one of whom must by HIV-positive. Additionally, CAS has two at-large board of director seats for one man and one woman to ensure gender diverse representation at the board level. There is also one board of director seat reserved for an HIV-positive young person.[3]

Notable programs and campaigns

AIDS Awareness Week & World AIDS Day

From 1991-2001 CAS ran an annual AIDS Awareness Week campaign with support from various governmental, corporate, and charitable organizations including Health and Welfare Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canadian Hemophilia Society, Levi Strauss & Co., and others. AIDS Awareness Week took place in October, but after this project came to an end CAS's awareness campaigns largely revolved around World AIDS Day of each year. Each year's campaign, was organized around a theme. Ads were often developed by Ottawa creative agency McMillan appeared in wide-circulation magazines including MacLean's, L'actualité, and The Globe and Mail.[4]

AIDS walk

Since 1988,Canadian AIDS Society participate in numerous walks to raise money for the organization and to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS.

National HIV Testing Day

On June 27, 2017 CAS launched a new national initiative to encourage people to be tested for HIV. Over forty community organizations participated across all regions of Canada by offering free HIV tests to anyone who wanted one.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Canadian Revenue Agency's Charity Listing". Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  2. ↑ "History of Canadian AIDS Society". Canadian AIDS Society. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  3. ↑ "Board of Directors - Canadian AIDS Society". Canadian AIDS Society. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  4. ↑ "Reuters". 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  5. ↑ Britneff, Beatrice. "Canadian AIDS Society lives to see another year, launching national 'HIV testing day'". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2018-10-12.


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