CPIA merger with CIAC still on track for July 1

Two months out, and despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) is on track to be established as the new plastics division of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC) on July 1, 2020.

“A significant amount of work has been completed by CIAC and CPIA staff and the Boards of Directors,” CIAC president and CEO Bob Masterson said Jon Pyper, CPIA’s transition leader, said in a joint statement on May 1. “While substantial work remains, we are confident that the proposed transaction, as confirmed by CIAC and CPIA members, will be executed on the proposed date. We wish to assure you that the COVID-19 situation should not impact the ability to execute this transaction as planned.”

The merger was first announced in November 2019, and was ratified unanimously during a meeting in Toronto in late February. The merger date of July 1 was first proposed several months ago.

Over the past few months, CIAC said, it has begun integrating CPIA Class I members and CIAC members with plastics interests into a new plastics working group, and this group will be the main coordinating committee of the new plastics division and its technical, policy, government relations, and public relations activities.

“Over the same few months, CPIA has focused on preparing for the transaction, setting aside resources to meet liabilities that will be incurred upon closure and transferring certain contracts and projects to CIAC for continuity in the new plastics division,” the statement said.

Work is also underway to select the inaugural plastics division vice president, and CIAC and CPIA expect to have that person available to take up the post on or before July 1.

Toronto-based CPIA’s most recent president and CEO Carol Hochu stepped down in mid-March, which is when Pyper, a former CPIA board member, took the helm as CPIA’s interim transition leader.

CIAC is headquartered in Ottawa, Ont.