CFA Event Policies

ARE YOU A CFA MEMBER?

Events Code of Conduct policy

The Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) is committed to providing a safe, positive, and enjoyable event experience for all participants including, but not limited to, attendees, speakers, presenters, hosts, sponsors, volunteers, vendors, and CFA staff.

Our goal is to create an inclusive environment that is harassment-free and where everyone feels welcome to participate, speak up, ask questions, and engage in discussion with other members of the CFA community. We do not tolerate harassment of event participants in any form during events, whether in-person or virtual.

All event participants are required to adhere to the following Code of Conduct. Event organizers will enforce this Code throughout the event entirety. Prior to any CFA event, all participants are expected to be familiar with this policy.

Code of Conduct

All CFA event participants agree to have read, understood, and comply with the following guidelines below when participating in a CFA event (virtual or live).

Expected Behaviour:

Be respectful to other event participants and remember that everyone has the right to enjoy CFA events without fear of harassment, discrimination, or condescension, whether blatant or through micro-aggressions.
Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions. Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behaviour and speech. All forms of communication should not demean others. Consider what you are saying and how it would feel if it were said to you or about you.
Attempt collaboration before conflict.
Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants. Alert CFA staff if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this Code of Conduct, even if they seem inconsequential.
During any virtual or live event no participant should engage in harassment in any form.
Do not disrupt the virtual meeting (e.g., “zoom-bombing”) or engage in harm or threats of harm of any kind. Do not create/contribute to a safety threat or unsafe or exclusionary situation.
Do not make audio or visual recordings of the Virtual Meeting in any medium—and do not distribute audio or visual recordings of the Virtual Meeting (via social media or any other means). Only the CFA or its representatives may do so.
Do not take or distribute pictures of or copy research posters/presentation materials unless explicit permission is granted.

Speak up if you see or hear something. Harassment is not tolerated, and you are empowered to politely engage when you or others are disrespected. The person making you feel uncomfortable may not be aware of what they are doing, and politely bringing their behaviour to their attention is encouraged. Participants violating Code of Conduct may be expelled from an event without a refund at the discretion of the CFA. Participants asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately.

Reporting an incident: If you see, overhear, or experience a violation of the Code of Conduct during a live or virtual event, and would like to report a violation, please contact a CFA staff onsite or email us at events@cfa.ca.

Non Member Event Policy

Canadian Franchise Association Event Attendance Policy – Effective June 18, 2013

ELIGIBILITY OF NON-MEMBERS TO ATTEND EVENTS

CFA “public events” are open to attendees without restriction.

CFA “educational events” are open to all CFA members and non-member franchisors and their franchisees. Non-member suppliers that are not franchisors and which are otherwise eligible to become members of CFA are permitted to send representatives to attend up to one educational event in a four year period (starting from the date of the first event attended). Non-member supplier companies that are otherwise not eligible to become CFA members are not eligible to attend CFA educational events.

Definition of “public event” – a public event is one that targets prospective franchisees and admission therefore is open to the general public, e.g. The Franchise Show. (Exhibitors must be CFA members.)

Definition of “educational event” – a live event that is primarily geared to franchise systems to help them develop best practices in franchising, understand trends in franchising, and provide updates about the environment and marketplace in which they do business, e.g. the National Convention, Law Day, How To Franchise Your Business, etc. Webinars are not considered to be “live” events and have no networking opportunities; therefore, they are not included in this definition for the purpose of this policy.