The Admissions Committee may also consider relevant experience gained through:

• Governance advisory roles

• Corporate secretary or governance professional roles
• Legal, audit, regulatory or policy positions involving board governance
• Director education and governance leadership roles

This experience may strengthen an application but does not replace the board experience requirement.

Applicants should demonstrate an understanding of:

• Financial oversight and accountability

• Strategy and organizational performance
• Risk management and governance
• Stakeholder and shareholder considerations
• The distinction between governance and management

The following experience generally does not meet DEP admission requirements independently:

• Executive or ex officio board positions held solely through a management role

• Operational management committees
• Advisory councils or fundraising boards without fiduciary responsibilities
• Honorary or ceremonial board appointments

Applicants must have a minimum of two years of current board experience on:

• For-profit boards
• Crown corporations
• Pension funds or financial institutions
• Regulatory bodies
• Significant not-for-profit boards

Admission is competitive. The Admissions Committee considers the depth and relevance of board experience, including independent directorships, committee membership and chair responsibilities.

Module 1 is a comprehensive overview of the core fundamental board tasks and processes including the director's legal duties and responsibilities, overseeing strategic decisions, as well as managing group dynamics and decision-making in the boardroom.

Key Focus Areas:

• Board Director Competencies
• Director Duty of Care & Legal Framework
• Fundamentals of Business Strategy
• Indigenous Governance

Module 1 also provides the opportunity for participants to meet and to gain an appreciation for the depth of experience in the room.

Module II focuses on the board’s responsibility to oversee and monitor financial performance, organizational health, and disclosure. Participants take part in group exercises that illustrate how to effectively organize and run audit committees, as well as improve their personal effectiveness in the board meeting context.

Key Focus Areas:

• Overseeing Rights Holders & Stakeholders Issues
• Financial Reporting & Discretionary Accounting
• Roles & Duties of the Audit Committee
• Shareholder Engagement Issues & Trends
• The implications of AI
• Crisis Management
• Social Media

Module III focuses on the board’s role in enhancing human performance, including the appointing, evaluation, compensation and renewal of the executive team. This module also examines how to structure boards with the appropriate set of director skills and experiences.

Key Focus Areas:

• Evaluating the CEO & Succession Planning
• The Changing World of Director Liability
• D&O Liability Insurance
• Roles of the Compensation Committee
• Board Effectiveness & Board Evaluations
• Avoiding Decision Failure
• Boardroom Negotiations

In Module IV, participants integrate their learning across the four modules by employing an enterprise risk management framework that helps directors identify and prioritize the wide range of issues influencing their organizations. Some of the specific risks and issues include mergers and acquisitions, technology investments, operations crises, finance irregularities, human capital failures, and governance breakdowns.

Key Focus Areas:

• Enterprise Risk Management
• IT & Cybersecurity Risk
• M&A
• Ethics & Reputational Risk
• The role of DEI

Module IV concludes with class dinner, mock-boardroom simulation, followed by the class graduation.