The Leadership Corner

Family Medicine Matters

Ongoing Transparency: Board updates and CEO KPIs
In my first FMM column I promised to keep you informed by providing timely, meaningful updates. Further, the Board has committed to improving transparency, and with that in mind I would like to tell you about our recent May Board meeting.
It is rare that we get to meet in person, so along with addressing usual board matters, we took the opportunity to refresh our knowledge about best practices in governance. Although we expect those seeking election to our Board to have some leadership and governance experience, ongoing learning in this area is essential for any high functioning board. If you sit on a board and would like to know more about our consultant or plans for board learning, please connect with me!
In addition, it was the one-year anniversary for Mike Allan, our CEO (Congrats Mike!). We took time to discuss his performance over the past year (we are super happy with the progress made in the areas of fiscal responsibility, transparency, and relationship building), and we reviewed KPI targets for the next 10 months (to align with our fiscal year end). We want you to be up to date on all that we do, so please see our Board summary and Mike’s updated KPIs. You will notice that his KPIs are similar to the year before. They are closely aligned with our two-to-three-year strategic priorities, which are progressing well, and we want to keep them moving in the right direction.
As always, please reach out with any questions, suggestions, or concerns.
Carrie Bernard
President
Mike Drop

Dollars and Sense: Your CFPC budget
I understand members’ concern about dues and where their money is going. To be as transparent and succinct as possible, here’s a quick summary:
- Last fee increase: 2017. In the past eight years, inflation has risen 25%.
- Budget April 2024: $5.5 million deficit (2024/25 budget year). In May 2024 the new CEO, CFPC staff, and Board worked decisively to address the budget.
- Reductions/cuts: 24 (13%) staff positions, about 75% of our office space, Foundation support, in-person meetings, library services, trimmed Canadian Family Physician (CFP) editions from 12 to 10, closed the Besrour Centre, and more.
- Situation as of April 2025: Deficit resolved.
- Sustained member values: CFP, CPD reporting, reduced fee options, exam subsidy, Tools for Practice, clinical webinars, family physician-led guidelines, member interest groups, medical student and resident support, professional standards work, education and research support, advocacy at all levels, and more.
- Your dues: $823 (since 2017) + Chapter portion ($122 to $335). No tax added.
We’re working hard to link your fees to value, and we welcome your feedback. We intend to do more in the next few years.
Now we need to stabilize the CFPC. At our next Annual Members’ Meeting, we’ll propose linking CFPC fees to inflation, specifically to the Consumer Price Index. We’re stabilizing our budget to avoid further cuts to the things that members value, including our capacity to champion excellence in family medicine. If we want true increases (beyond inflation), we’ll ask for a member vote and explain why.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.
Talk to you soon,
Mike Allan
CEO
CEO Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
The Board selects the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), then establishes the CEO’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These KPIs lay out what the Board expects of the CEO and what they want the CEO to focus on. The CEO then leads and manages the CFPC to assure the realization of those goals.-
2025 - 2026
- Relationship building: Maintaining and growing relationships — will have maintained the relationships with the Board, Executive Team, Senior Advisory Team, Chapter leaders, other CEO allies, plus other key personnel/interest holders, and will have integrated well within the organization demonstrating effective communication skills.
- Strategic planning: Will have ensured the two-and-a-half-year strategic priorities are on track and work is under way to advance a new strategic plan.
- Fiscal stability: Will continue to identify, develop, and implement a plan to make sure master plan projects have the required financial supports in place to move forward, making certain that members receive value while ensuring fiscal stability into the future.
- Modernize the College: Will have provided leadership to the newly formed governance committee, optimizing ancillary systems and processes to support the organization (e.g., membership renewal, branding) and meet member needs (e.g., membership renewal, branding, exams).
- Culture change – supporting the President: Will have actively supported the President and Officers as key advocates for family physicians and the profession of family medicine in Canada.
- Culture change – advocacy for members: Will have led the CFPC so it is seen by members as advocating for policy change and promoting the critical and foundational role of the discipline of family medicine within the Canadian health care system, and improving the perceived value of membership in the College through effective communication and engagement.
-
2024 - 2025
- Relationship building: Will have forged relationships with the Board, Executive Team, Senior Advisory Team, Chapter leaders, other CEO allies, plus other key personnel/interest holders, and will have integrated well within the organization demonstrating effective communication skills.
- Strategic planning: Will have ensured the successful launch of the two-year Strategic Priorities in the fall.
- Fiscal stability: Will have identified, developed, and implemented a plan to ensure master plan projects have the required financial supports in place to move forward, ensuring that members receive value while ensuring fiscal stability into the future.
- Modernizing the College: Will have provided leadership to the comprehensive governance review, optimizing ancillary systems and processes to support the structure and meet member needs.
- Advocacy: Will have actively supported the President and Officers as key advocates for family physicians and the profession of family medicine in Canada, advocating for policy changes that benefit members, promoting the critical and foundational role of the discipline of family medicine within the Canadian health care system, and improving the perceived value of membership in the College through effective communication and engagement.
President’s and CEO’s CFP Columns
Creative solutions to improve access to care
President Carrie Bernard
Canadian Family Physician May 2025; 71 (5) 357; https://www.cfp.ca/content/71/5/357
View past columns from Carrie Bernard
CFPC advocacy
CEO Michael Allan
Canadian Family Physician May 2025; 71 (5) 360; https://www.cfp.ca/content/71/5/360
View past columns from Michael Allan
Past Leadership Corner insights
-
Family Medicine Matters: May 15, 2025
Family Docs Rock
May is the month we celebrate physicians in Canada and family doctors worldwide. At this time of year, when I hear “happy doctor’s day” I immediately think about Dr. Glaucomflecken’s two videos: one where a resident doctor gets extremely excited to be presented with a very disappointing gift* and another that highlights how family doctors are overworked and underappreciated.** While humorous, these skits give me pause … how can I celebrate my incredible family medicine colleagues without being glib? How do I acknowledge what has been described as a crisis while also celebrating the remarkable people who have chosen this incredible profession?
I think the answer to this dilemma lies in the heart of the profession itself. Family doctors are masters at acknowledging challenges while still seeing potential. When an issue is inoperable, our care does not end. We are realists and we are taught to journey with our patients, no matter what life serves up. We share in their joy, and when there is bad news we acknowledge the suffering and offer realistic hope.
This ability to hold such tension must be extended to ourselves: we have struggled and we should be celebrated.
I recently experienced this balance in Winnipeg at the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada’s conference. Colleagues engaged in difficult conversations about the physician workforce challenge in the morning and celebrated each other at a beautiful awards ceremony in the evening.*** There is room for both.
So, please, remember to celebrate. You work hard. Your patients value you. And, at the College, we advocate for you and we appreciate you. Thank you for choosing family medicine and for all that you do.
Carrie Bernard
President
* Glaucomflecken. Happy Doctors Day! [video]; 2021. https://www.tiktok.com/@drglaucomflecken/video/6945448152434511109
** Glaucomflecken. Happy Birthday, Family Medicine [video]; 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsH5oxN099w
*** Society of Rural Physicians of Canada. Award Winners 2025. https://srpc.ca/awards-winners-2025/ -
Mike Drop: May 1, 2025
Advocacy: Essential and (mostly) invisible
“What has the College ever done for us!” For those unfamiliar, I reworded that line from Monty Python’s The Life of Brian. I recognize that much of what the College does is not obvious. Members would like stronger advocacy for family medicine, so let’s focus there.
The CFPC has met with federal and provincial politicians, senior civil servants, and medical organisations. The process is slow and can feel like one-step-up and two-steps-back. You can build a relationship with an elected official and then, a cabinet shuffle happens. Despite this, we’re seeing progress through:
-
Continuing conversations to acknowledge and commit to addressing administrative burden, which was raised by all major political parties in the federal election
-
Recognizing the value of family physicians and our clinical expertise in primary care teams
-
Working with our Chapters to sound the alarm regarding family doctor shortages to see improvements in:
-
Family physician compensation processes and amounts
-
Development of team-based care systems
-
-
Hosting a debate during the federal election with the three major national parties, assuring family physicians are leading the health care conversation
Last year, when a member was told that we were in Ottawa advocating for the profession they asked, to paraphrase, “Tell me exactly what you got for us and how much you spent to get it.” Advocacy does not yield obvious or immediate responses. It is a slow, persistent, relationship-building process to yield meaningful changes for our members, the profession, and the health of Canadians. It’s one of the things the College has done for us.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.Talk to you soon,
Mike Allan
CEO -
-
Family Medicine Matters: April 17, 2025
In less than two weeks Canadians will go to the polls at a time of great economic uncertainty. In this changing political and economic landscape, we need to press all political parties to keep health care as a top priority.
We have long known that access to family physicians leads to better health outcomes and a more efficient health system. The CFPC continues to advocate for better resources to make sure that every Canadian has access to a family physician, highlighting that there is no substitute for a family doctor. We had the opportunity to meet with Federal Health Minister Kamal Khera within days of her appointment, taking the time to highlight the importance of supporting family doctors to work in teams, reducing administrative burden, and making sure that investments in family medicine are a priority for a sustainable workforce into the future.
Canadians agree that a commitment to universal health care is one of our most defining characteristics. A strong health care system must figure prominently in all platforms and the CFPC continues to share important priorities with politicians across the country.
As the election period draws to a close, we will continue to emphasize the importance and value of family physicians in our publicly funded health care system. Our recent Nanos survey results highlight that family doctors are highly valued by Canadians and are seen as irreplaceable. We will keep the focus on health care and the central role we, as family physicians, have in the lives of all Canadians.
See our federal election advocacy notes.
As we work harder to share our work and direction, I encourage you to reach out to me with questions, suggestions, or concerns.
Carrie Bernard
President -
Mike Drop: March 27, 2025
50 Years of Self Learning Education: A message from the CEO
Twenty years ago it was estimated* it would take 21 hours a day, seven days a week, to keep up with general medicine using conventional approaches (reading all relevant articles). Given the growth in medical publications and the breadth of family medicine, today this challenge seems even more impossible. No worries, just one more impossible problem for family doctors to solve ….
The creators of the CFPC’s Self Learning™ Program foresaw this problem 50 years ago and addressed it. A team of practising family physicians scours the literature, selects the best articles, filters the most relevant content from the articles, and focuses our learning through carefully crafting a question to stimulate our learning. In the 1970s, Self Learning began as a column in Canadian Family Physician, with subscribers mailing their answers to the Self Learning questions on paper. In the 1980s, Self Learning became a self-standing program where volumes were mailed to subscribers on floppy disks (yep, floppy disk!).
Self Learning attracts family physicians from across Canada, with approximately 20,000 subscribers who have used Self Learning as a learning tool. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the question writers across Canada and the Self Learning Program committee.
Please email us if you would like to suggest a topic for future volumes.
Delivered in your preferred (electronic or paper) format, at around 30 one-page article summaries every two months, there is no better program to keep up with the literature chosen by Canadian family doctors for family doctors. Subscribers, thank you for supporting Self Learning. Non-subscribers, please check out Self Learning and see for yourself.
Here’s to another exceptional 50 years.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.Talk to you soon,
Mike Allan
CEO
*Alper BS, Hand JA, Elliott SG, Kinkade S, Hauan MJ, Onion DK, et al. How much effort is needed to keep up with the literature relevant for primary care? J Med Libr Assoc. 2004;92(4):429-437. -
Family Medicine Matters: March 13, 2025
Never bored on the Board
Given the timing (on the heels of our most recent Board meeting, as the deadline for new Board director applications draws to a close) today I want to share some reflections about the CFPC Board.
Why do people apply: In 2018 we moved to a skills-based board, elected by members (see my January 2025 column). I am regularly amazed by the volume and quality of applications we receive from across the country. Most people who apply: a) care deeply about family medicine; b) want to ensure that family physicians thrive as Canadians’ most trusted health care specialists; c) want to help the CFPC in its membership and standard setting roles.
What does it entail: The Board meets five to six times per year (mix of in person and virtual). The Board is responsible for: a) The organization’s vision and stewardship of that vision; b) selecting, supporting, and evaluating the CEO; c) monitoring the short- and long-term health of the organization.
What is important to the current Board: Last year the Board asked Dr. Mike Allan, our new CEO, to focus his attention on five key areas, which were articulated in his KPIs (see below). These five areas continue to be the focus of Board discussion and monitoring. At our most recent meeting, following herculean efforts by Dr. Allan and staff, we approved a balanced budget for 2025/2026. We continue to consider advocacy for you, our members, to be a top priority. Please see our Board meeting summary for details about the recent meeting.
As we work harder to share our work and direction, I encourage you to reach out to me with questions, suggestions, or concerns.
Carrie Bernard
President -
Mike Drop: March 6, 2025
The Truth is Out There: Exams
This reference is from the X Files, which started while I was in medical school (yep, I’m old). The X Files premise was that supernatural secrets were being held by the government and “the truth is out there.” The CFPC is hardly supernatural but let’s get ‘the truth out there’ for exam fees.
CCFP exam costs more than the Royal College Exam: False.
The Royal College exam fee is $5,830 ($830 assessment and $5,000 written and oral/practical exam). The CCFP exam is $4,369.
CCFP Emergency Medicine (EM) exam costs more than the Royal College Exam: True.
Our exam is $6,324 and the Royal College is $5,830. The Royal College pools costs across it’s many exams. We have only two exams and the CFPC (EM), with fewer candidates, has a higher relative cost. Pooling costs would increase fees for CCFP candidates.
CCFP (EM) requires two exams, costing far more than FRCP (EM): True and false (false equivalency).
Completing the CCFP and CCFP (EM) costs $10,639 (three years) and FRCP (EM) at $5,830 (five years). The CCFP (EM) is dual certifications for the practice of family medicine and added competency in emergency medicine. A Royal College dual certification (with subspecialty) has fees ranging from $8,760 to $11,260 depending on exam components.
Royal College doesn’t subsidize its exams: False.
Exam fees for the Royal College and CFPC (both CCFP and CCFP (EM)) don’t cover the exam costs. The exams are subsidized by member fees.
We are exploring cost reductions for exams. Cost of living inflation is being applied to exams and we’re intending to apply it to all CFPC fees and products, as a long-overdue best business practice. More on finances to come next month.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.Talk to you soon,
Mike Allan
CEO -
Family Medicine Matters: February 13, 2025
This blog space is meant to share affairs or ‘matters’ relevant to Canadian family doctors. The play on words is intentional. Our specialty, family medicine, matters a great deal to Canadians, something I appreciate even more as President of the CFPC.
I am sure many of you have experienced the scenario where a patient books an appointment, specifically to ask if they should follow the advice of another specialist because they first want to check the recommendation with their doctor. Our longstanding relationships and broad expertise matter a great deal to our patients, leading them to trust us with their health decisions across their ailments, life stages, and changing situations.
We also know, thanks to the work of researchers like Barbara Starfield, that family medicine matters to the health care system overall, improving health care outcomes and system efficiency.
As CFPC president, while meeting with federal and provincial politicians across all parties, I am learning that family medicine truly matters, to all of them. Whether it was on the “hill” last October or with the federal, provincial, and territorial health ministers in Halifax last month, each politician had a personal story to tell about the need for better access to family doctors and a stronger, better supported system of primary care.
What remains to be seen is how these politicians will actualize their support for our specialty. There have been positive signs, with some provinces adopting new funding models and providing more support for family physicians working in teams. The CFPC applauds these efforts and will continue political advocacy to improve family medicine: our specialty clearly matters to all politicians, to the system, and to patients across the country.
Please connect with your ideas for advocacy.
Carrie Bernard
President -
Mike Drop: January 30, 2025
Mainpro+® changes just happened.
In August 2023 the Mainpro+ platform vendor informed us they were ending service in December 2024. We went through proposals, arranged budgets, and finalized contracts. That left just 12 months to complete a 24-month project. Our goals had to shift—from perfect (if that really exists) to reasonably good and functional with no loss of member data. The CPD and IT teams worked tirelessly and stage 1 of the new platform was launched on time. There was a ton of work and user testing, but we did not predict all the problems. I’m reminded of the Yogi Berra quote “Predictions are hard, especially about the future.” We knew it wouldn’t be perfect on day one, but frustrations occurred and we are sorry.
Thank you to those who shared feedback, it's helped with improvements in functionality. We heard that entering non-certified credits and credits for courses certified elsewhere was difficult. We reached out to our new vendor immediately and were able to improve this within the first week. Enhancements are being rolled out and a second phase of development is starting shortly so don’t hesitate to reach out with suggestions. Mainpro+ is for you and making things as good as possible on a reasonable budget is the priority of the CFPC staff and Board (see the recent Board summary). Our Mainpro+ team is providing webinars about the new system (our available options) or email them at [email protected] to schedule a session. Imposed change is tough, but soon it will be Mainly-Pro (see what I did there …).
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.Talk to you soon,
Mike Allan
CEO -
Family Medicine Matters: January 16, 2025
A brief message from the President
The CFPC Board is keenly interested in sharing our work with you—our members—to keep you informed, to inspire you to become involved, and to allow us to hear directly from you. As President, I want to provide meaningful brief information and updates monthly, here in the Leadership Corner, alongside Mike’s regular Mike Drop’s, and to invite you to connect with me if something I say resonates or perhaps even hits a nerve.
Since 2018 new Board directors have been elected by the membership to serve three-year terms (renewable once). This move to a smaller, skills-based Board, elected by members, was a change inspired by member feedback, and has led to a more nimble Board that is actively involved in steering the ship.
As everyone knows, the CFPC is both a membership and a standards setting organization, which can sometimes lead to tensions. When these tensions arise, the membership voice is well represented and indeed amplified by the current directors, many of whom work almost exclusively in clinical practice.
The CFPC is your professional home, and it should feel like home: a place of comfort and support where you can retreat to be with ‘family’ rather than like an office where you need to fax in yet another form that costs you money. We are working on this. We are learning and we are changing. I look forward to hearing from you as we walk this path together.
Carrie Bernard
President -
Mike Drop: December 12, 2024
“
What the heck am I paying these dues for?” If you’ve been in practice for less than 25 years, I likely started saying this before you.
Before we consider where dues go, I should clarify that some programs, like Self Learning, CFPCLearn, and FMF do not depend on member dues and are part of the CFPC’s self- supporting activities.
Among functions dependent on dues, perhaps the least obvious but most important is the self-governance of our profession and the value of certification through setting standards in family medicine. This includes accreditation of training sites, establishing requirements for residency, and maintenance of competency. After that, there are many things you might not immediately recognize like Canadian Family Physician, member committees, Tools for Practice, advocacy, support of Chapters, and much more. And then there’s all the costs of running a business such as computers for staff, support services like human resources, legal and accounting, to name a few.
Now that I am on the other side of the equation, I recognize that each year we squeeze every penny (do we say nickel now?) out of your $823/year. Since 2017, members have declined proposed fee increases, despite an inflationary cost increase of approximately 24 per cent. While we can’t continue too much longer without one, we understand members want us to demonstrate we’re being responsible with their hard-earned money. I agree.
In an upcoming column, I’ll explain what we’re doing to demonstrate fiscal prudence and delivery of value.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.
Talk to you soon,
Mike Allan
CEO -
Mike Drop: October 24, 2024
Strategic plans are fundamental in business, born and reborn within any organizations like the eternal phoenix. They don’t represent the core business but guide novel and aspirational work, setting new paths and functions for organizations. They are meant to arise from the Board, supported by staff, partners, and, in organizations like ours, members.
But, this time, we expedited things. Before you read “cutting corners,” let me explain. We have not had a strategic plan for two years. The governance restructuring, happening now, and developing a long-term strategic plan will take time. The Board and I have identified some areas within the College that have not been adequately supported or developed and require immediate attention. We are setting short-term (two to three years) strategic priorities to focus on service of members. As finalized in our recent Board meeting summary, they are:
- Improved Business Functions: Cut costs, seek revenue, reduce dependence on member dues, expand membership, and more.
- Member Value: More advocacy, tangible values to membership, provide practice (clinical/non-clinical) support, advance physician supply, and more.
- Governance: Improved process for sustainable governance renewal and begin work on a formal five- to 10-year Strategic Plan.
- Foster Organizational Culture: Integrating equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism and more.
We are focused on what the members have told us: take the finances and business of the College seriously, become more efficient, and provide value for membership. This version of the phoenix may have a short lifespan, but the work will support the future Strategic Plan cycles.
PS: Don’t focus on the burned-up ashes part of the phoenix analogy—that’s the downer-side of the myth.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.
Talk to you soon,
Mike Allan
CEO -
Mike Drop: September 26, 2024
Ever wonder what drives the College to do things? I know I have.
And now I know. Well, I know more.
There are a thousand drivers—political factors, changing standards, public needs and expectations, and the list goes on. However, at the centre of things is the direction and oversight of the Board, who are elected leaders representing members and are dedicated to advancing our profession. The Board selects the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), then establishes the CEO’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These KPIs are what the Board expects of the CEO and what they want the CEO to focus on. The CEO then leads and manages the CFPC to achieve these goals.
So simple, a monkey could do it. And they got me. Before you roll your eyes, King Kong’s a monkey (I know, I know, a great ape). Besides, he’s a better climber and likely smarter. I climbed into this job, but I don’t think he even applied.
Sincerely, it is a huge honour for me to be the leader of our College, family physicians’ professional home. The Board’s goals for me are easy to get behind: Forge good relationships with partners like our provincial Chapters, see to fiscal stability, develop short-term strategic priorities, lead governance reform, support Board leadership, and serve the membership. (CEO KPIs)
This won’t immediately get the College to the place we are aiming for but these are reasonable goals to set it on the path to solid improvement. I will not be able to make all of you happy but I am dedicated to helping more of you feel satisfied with your professional home.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.
Talk to you soon,
Mike Allan, CEO -
Mike Drop: September 12, 2024
The CFPC has been accused of being unclear and lacking transparency. I myself have made some of those same comments, but perhaps I’m oversharing, ….
The Board and I want to provide visibility to the core things relevant to your professional home. However, we run the risk of providing excessive detail, unreasonable to wade through, with the real danger of boring you to tears. Much of our work is more parliamentary procedure and less Summer Blockbuster. Flooding you with information is not the answer and this too has been a problem. About 20 years ago, I unsubscribed from the CFPC mail-list for a few years due to volume of unwanted content. You’re right in guessing that did not come up in my CEO job interview.
Some have asked for all minutes of Board and committee meetings. Legal counsel has advised against this, and frankly, it’s mostly boring. Our Board sets direction for the College and that is key. After I spoke with the member who brought the four member proposals at last year’s AMM, we’re going to start by providing a two-page (maximum) summary of Board deliberations and minutes. Here is the July Board Summary.
I promise to keep these ‘Mike Drop’ columns short (if you’ve seen me, you know short is my wheelhouse). I will limit these columns to approximately 250 words and update you honestly on College issues like strategic priorities, arising matters, where the heck [edited for PG rating] do my dues go, and more. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.
Talk to you soon,
Mike Allan, CEO
Board Meeting Summaries
Please visit our Board of Directors page to view all past meeting summaries.