Advocis owes $2M to its contingency fund

Advocis leaned heavily on its Century Initiative assets last year to keep its fund balances in positive territory.

In total, the association received $2.7 million from the contingency fund, according to the 2023 annual report, released on Thursday. While $700,000 of that amount isn’t repayable, the remaining $2 million is repayable with interest, the report said.

The Century Initiative, created in 2006 and funded with premium membership fees, was established to ensure the association’s capitalization.

Advocis faced a liquidity crisis over the past couple of years, with challenges such as increased operating costs and a post-pandemic drop in education demand. Expenses exceeded revenues by $2.7 million in 2022, and by $766,426 in 2023.

According to the 2023 annual report, the Century Initiative balance was $5.6 million at the start of the year and $3.3 million at year-end.

Advocis did not provide comment ahead of publication time that clarified the fund balances.

Contingencies to the 2023 financial statements are ongoing legal claims against the association that total $2.6 million. No provisions were made at year-end in the financial statements for these claims.

Michelle Schriver

Michelle is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and sister publication Investment Executive. She has worked with the team since 2015 and been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and SABEW for her reporting. Email her at michelle@newcom.ca.