President's Message

It is quite an honour for me to be entrusted with the role of president of the RAIC for the coming year. I would like to thank my fellow Board members for the confidence they show in my abilities by electing me to this position.

As the leading voice of architecture in Canada, the RAIC does great work in building awareness and appreciation of the contribution of architecture to the physical and cultural well-being of Canada.

As new president, the goals I will be working towards in the coming year will be to make the RAIC as efficient as possible in continuing to fulfill its mission in today’s (21st century) context, and to ensure that the RAIC delivers valuable services to its members, who are the foundation of our organization.

Just as the RAIC affirms that architecture matters to our society, I want to let members know that I am intensely aware of their importance to the vitality of the RAIC, and I affirm that members matter to our Institute.

Last September, the Board of Directors held a Strategic Planning session. During that day of intense meeting, we revisited the mission of the RAIC, and came up with the following revised statement, which I would like to share with all of you:

“The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada is the leading voice of architecture in Canada.

Our mission is:

• To affirm that architecture matters;
• To celebrate the richness and diversity of architecture in Canada; and
• To support architects in achieving excellence."

This is what guides all our actions. At the same Strategic Planning session, we also took time to identify which are the values that we adhere to.

We determined there are four:

1. Integrity
2. Environmental responsibility
3. Inclusiveness
4. Effectiveness

Since its inception the role of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada has remained constant, but it seems to me important to note that the way in which the organization fulfills its mission has constantly evolved to stay fresh and adapt to the context of our changing society. It is in this vein that I will concentrate my efforts during my year as president.

The interest of the general public for architecture has been growing in the past few years, which is very good. We can take advantage of this public interest to keep on explaining why architecture truly matters.

Architecture matters, of course, because of the need for environmentally sustainable construction and because of the importance of functional buildings.

But let’s not forget to affirm architecture also matters, immensely, because it is the means of creating beautiful living environments that lift the spirits and can be a source of joy in our daily lives.

It’s not only the architecture of large commercial and institutional buildings that matters. The architecture of each and every building matters, as even the smaller buildings play an important role as part of the environment we live in and, combined together, form the fabric of our towns and cities.

Paule Boutin
President