March 17, 2005 Organization

Québec – The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Faculty of Administrative Science of Université Laval and the Autorité des marchés financiers have partnered to create the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés. Scheduled to begin by mid-June, the courses will be delivered at the Caisse’s headquarters in the Price Building, located in Québec City.

Creating this school for corporate and pension fund directors was a business decision for the Caisse. “We base our investment decisions not only on the quality of the companies, their management ability and growth outlook but also on the soundness of their governance,” stated Caisse Chairman and CEO Henri-Paul Rousseau. “The Collège will give Québec companies access to the best possible information on good governance practices. And since the Collège’s target clientele includes pension fund directors, Caisse depositors and other pension fund members will benefit from the expertise developed by the Collège,” continued Mr. Rousseau.

“For Université Laval’s Faculty of Administrative Science, the creation of this Collège meets a real need, and partnering with the Caisse and the Autorité des marchés financiers gives us access to recognized expertise,” explained the university’s rector, Michel Pigeon. Besides playing a key role in developing the program, Université Laval will see to its management and deliver the constantly updated courses.

“We are supporting the Collège des administrateurs with the Fund for Investor Education and the Promotion of Good Governance, which seeks to encourage the highest quality of governance standards. The Collège will give Québec companies, their officers and managers access to high-level training and the knowledge they need to set up best management practices,” explained Jean St-Gelais, President and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers.

This announcement of the school’s creation is step one of a more ambitious project. The founding members’ next move is to expand the partner base. “We plan to make this school a real centre of excellence and benchmark over the next few years,” added Mr. Rousseau.

According to General Secretary André Dicaire, seeing the boards of directors of public agencies implement good governance practices is an overriding concern for the Québec government. “In this regard, our association with the other partners involved in creating the Collège des administrateurs will make it possible to develop a customized course offering for government-appointed director,” added Mr. Dicaire.

The Collège will ultimately seek to better equip directors serving on the boards of companies and pension funds, as well as those working in public and parapublic organizations and cooperatives. The school will focus primarily on the regulatory framework in Québec. The training will take the form of in-residence modules dealing with the duties and responsibilities of directors, governance principles, risk management, strategic management, financial structure and analysis, and audits. At the end of the training, participants will earn the designation “Certified Director.”

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