November Symposiums, Free Chapter Socials, and Big News from the CAA

2026-09-09

Dear Members and Partners,

It has been a busy and exciting year at the Canadian Acoustical Association (CAA). We've had some issues with our email system, but that's working now and we're here to tell you what we've been busy doing for you.

We have launched regional chapters and Special Interest Groups, adopted a new mission, refreshed our awards, begun a complete rebuild of our website, and taken the CAA back onto the international stage. There is plenty below on all of that, but the headline is this November's symposium series.

2026 CAA Symposiums

This November, the Canadian Acoustical Association is hosting two working symposiums focused on building practical guidance for the future of acoustics practice in Canada. Both symposiums will cover the same subject matter, with local specialists providing their experiences and reflections. But you’ll also get a chance to contribute and share your thoughts in workshop style discussions.

There's lots to learn and discuss, and a real chance to help the CAA lead the way in promoting and sharing best practice.

We've provided the key details below, but the full agendas are on Eventbrite. Each location runs an identical agenda apart from some presenter changes to simplify logistics.

Event Locations & Dates:

  • November 2-3: Weston Golf Club, Etobicoke, Ontario
  • November 5-6: Westin Wall Centre, Richmond, British Columbia

Day one of each session will spotlight environmental noise, and day two will dig into residential building acoustics.

Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite:

We are running a $25 discount on member tickets until Sept 18, 7 PM Eastern. It will auto apply to the tickets you add to the cart on Eventbrite. Limited tickets available, so don't wait to pick one up.

Free CAA Regional Chapter evening socials in both cities

On the   in each city, we're hosting a free social to launch our new Southern Ontario and Pacific regional chapters. Food, drinks and good company. You don't need a symposium ticket to come, you just need to be a CAA member, join on the website. Venue details will follow shortly.

Environmental Noise Day

Environmental noise is regulated differently in nearly every province, or not at all, with little shared ground on method or compliance.

Where national guidance doesn't yet exist, we want the CAA to help set a good general direction. This day works through the issue directly: the incoming ISO 9613-2 revision, Canadian practice across Ontario, Alberta, BC, and Quebec, and international good practice from the UK and Europe. This is all merged with some workshop and panel discussions on best next steps.

Building Acoustics Day

The acoustic minimums in Canada's National Building Code aren't keeping pace with international standards like ISO 19488, and occupants are feeling the difference. Our building acoustics day lays out the evidence: what these shortfalls cost, what's currently being built across the country, how Canada stacks up globally, and why raising the bar makes business sense. The day feeds into a CAA White Paper arguing for higher standards, along with best-practice guidance the industry has been missing until now.

Neither of these is a one-day fix. Working groups will carry both pieces of work forward after the symposiums, continuing to build them out as Canadian practice evolves.

These are working symposiums, not sit-back-and-listen days. Alongside talks from Canadian and international specialists, each day includes workshop sessions where your experience feeds directly into CAA guidelines and recommended best practice: for residential and building acoustics, and for environmental assessment and modelling. The goal is a more consistent, Canadian way of doing things, especially where no rules or guidance exist, or where what does exist doesn't meet the needs of the situation. Come ready to contribute.

Sponsorship & Exhibiting Opportunities

CAA events are made possible by our sponsors and exhibitors. Logison is our Platinum sponsor across both symposiums. HTS Engineering and Behrens ENC join as Gold sponsors in Toronto. Our Silver sponsors are Gerr Audio, Pliteq, Levitt-Safety, EKHO IS, Vibra Systems and Merlin, and exhibiting with us are AcoustiArmour, The Floor Studio, AIL Soundwalls and Acoustiguard. Their support makes these events happen. What makes them worthwhile is you being in the room, so please come and meet them.

A limited number of sponsorship and exhibitor packages remain available to companies who want meaningful engagement with and to support Canada's acoustics community. Sponsorship goes beyond event support, it helps drive the development of future guidance, industry, research and education collaboration, professional education, and the advancement of acoustics practice nationwide.

As a sponsor, you can:

  • Connect directly with acoustical consultants, engineers, researchers, regulators, and decision-makers
  • Showcase your products, services, and innovations to a highly targeted audience
  • Support the development of Canadian best practices and industry leadership
  • Demonstrate your organization's commitment to improving acoustic outcomes nationwide

Sponsorship packages are available at a range of levels, each designed to provide real engagement and visibility throughout the events.

To get involved and for further information regarding sponsoring the CAA 2026 Symposium Series, email sponsorship@caa-aca.ca

If your organization wants to help shape the conversation and contribute to the future of acoustics practice in Canada, we'd love to talk.

Guidance for Canadian practice

One of the most exciting decisions the board has taken this year is to make the development and publication of best practice guidance one of the key CAA activities, as every comparable national body already does. The first four priority areas are residential building acoustics, environmental baseline assessment and prediction, low frequency noise assessment, and underwater acoustics. Working groups are being established under the Special Interest Groups to develop these with broad industry input, and the November symposiums are where the first two begin in earnest. If you want your experience reflected in how Canada does acoustics, this is the place to put it.

News from across the CAA

There is a lot of positive change underway as we modernize the association and set it up for the decades ahead. Too much for one email, but a few things worth knowing now.

Our new website launches very soon, with a brand-new members area and modernized functionality.

Five regional chapters, one national community

This year we launched five regional chapters: Pacific, Prairie and Northern, Southern Ontario, Quebec and Capital, and Atlantic, with Roderick Mackenzie leading the programme. The chapters are about regular touch points and real connection: evening technical talks, social gatherings, and a closer link between members in your area, hybrid wherever we can manage it so nobody misses out for being outside a major hub. That connection is what the CAA is all about, and the November evening socials are the first taste of it. To get involved in your chapter, email regionalchapters@caa-aca.ca.

Special Interest Groups

We have established seven Special Interest Groups to bring together members working in the same corner of the field: Building Acoustics, Environmental Acoustics, Underwater Acoustics, Speech and Hearing Sciences, Audio Engineering and Production, Aeroacoustics, and Workplace Noise and Vibration. The groups will drive symposium content, guideline development, and community in their areas. An open call for group chairs is coming very soon. To register early interest, email specialinterest@caa-aca.ca.

Emerging acousticians

We are also creating an emerging acousticians group for students and those in their first five years in industry, to support the next generation with networking, mentorship, and a genuine voice in the association. Email emergingacousticians@caa-aca.ca to be part of it.

A stronger voice, backed by education

The CAA is pushing to be a stronger voice for acoustics in Canada, and to offer the educational programmes that give that voice weight. We have an agreement in principle with the Institute of Acoustics (IOA) in the UK covering shared webinars, early careers networking, member benefits, and exploring delivery of the IOA's respected diploma programme in a Canadian context. More on this as it develops.

Reinvigorated awards for 2027

Our awards programme has had a thorough refresh for 2027. We are introducing three new awards: the Emerging Acoustician Award, for someone making their mark in their first five years in industry; the Eugene Bolstad and Richard Patching Award, recognizing excellence in practical acoustic design and noise control, honouring two practitioners whose long careers shaped the profession in Western Canada; and a Prize in Volunteering in Acoustics, because this association runs on the generosity of its volunteers. We are also reviewing prize amounts to make them more meaningful and significant. The aim is to celebrate acoustics more broadly across the wider industry while keeping students and education, as ever, the pulse of what we do at the CAA.

Flagship prizes like the Shaw, the Hétu, and the Fessenden continue, alongside our student travel bursaries and the Canada-Wide Science Fair award.

Full details when nominations open.

Flying the flag internationally

Dan Clayton and Pierre Grandjean, our Editor-in-Chief, represented the CAA at InterNoise 2026 in Adelaide this August, raising the association's international profile, building connections with partner organizations and potential sponsors, and attending key I-INCE meetings ahead of InterNoise 2028. Closer to home, Roderick Mackenzie and Paul Marks attended the NCAC annual meeting in Quebec City to build more connections between our organizations.

The journal

Canadian Acoustics, our journal, is going through a revamp of its own, designed to work hand in hand with the new website. More to come on that soon.

Setting up for the decades ahead

None of this is happening by accident. This year alone the board has formally adopted a new mission, established the regional chapters and Special Interest Groups, made Canadian best practice guidance a core activity, approved a complete website rebuild, restructured the awards programme, agreed our partnership engagement with the IOA, committed the CAA to an international presence, and put in place the governance, financial controls and infrastructure an association of our ambition needs, with a code of ethics for members in development. Every one of these passed by formal board resolution. It is a lot of change in one year, and it is all pointed at the same thing: a CAA set up to serve its members and speak for acoustics in Canada for decades to come.

Behind the scenes, the board also commissioned a full strategic review of the CAA this year, benchmarking us against national acoustics bodies in the UK, the US, and Australia and New Zealand, and looking hard at everything from membership, events, and education to guidance, our digital platforms, and how the association is governed and run. Its recommendations are now shaping a multi-year plan to grow the CAA and what it offers you. We'll be sharing more as that plan rolls out, and some of what you've read in this email is just the start of it.

Our mission

The Canadian Acoustical Association (CAA) / Association Canadienne D'Acoustique (ACA) is the national professional body for acoustics, noise, vibration, hearing protection, audio and musical acoustics in Canada. We exist to strengthen the disciplines, advance the profession, and make the case for why acoustics matters: to individuals, communities, industry, and the natural world. We work alongside partner organizations whose work complements our own, recognizing that the broader acoustic and related sciences are best served through collaboration across complementary fields.

  • Advancing the profession. We develop guidance, best practices, and training that raise the standard of practice across the country. We build careers by attracting the next generation to the fields, supporting students and early-career professionals, and championing diversity throughout the industry. We actively encourage underrepresented groups to see acoustics as a place to thrive, and we inspire those considering the profession through the stories of people building meaningful careers here. We invest in ongoing development at every stage, including the entrepreneurial and business skills practitioners need to lead and build new ventures. We carry the depth of Canadian acoustics expertise onto the international stage.
  • Public voice and advocacy. We are advocates for better acoustics in society. We educate the public on the benefits of thoughtful acoustic design and the real costs of unmanaged noise: to human health, hearing, productivity, mental wellbeing, and quality of life. We engage with government and industry as a credible, independent source of knowledge on science and practice.
  • Environment and ecological health. We recognize acoustics as an environmental issue. From urban noise to underwater sound, we contribute knowledge and expertise to the protection of human and ecological health, and we see our role as a trusted voice wherever the acoustic environment affects living systems.
  • A platform for the community. We are a collaborative home for practitioners, researchers, students, educators, and audio professionals in acoustics and related areas of interest. We create the connections: between members across disciplines and regions, between the profession and partner and sponsoring organizations, and between Canadian acoustics and the broader international community.

Your officer team is Dan Clayton (President), Victoria Duda (Vice-President), Eric de Santis (Treasurer) and Anil Joshi (Executive Secretary).

How to reach us

A word on our website: it is showing its age and has given us some technical trouble in recent months, including with contact forms, so membership sign-up is now working but the forms are being replaced by the new site. If you have reached out and not heard back, we apologize; your message may simply not have reached us, and we would love to hear from you again. A completely rebuilt site, with a new members area, is well underway, so bear with us while we get everything looking new and easy to use. In the meantime, these addresses will reach us:

president@caa-aca.ca for the President

vicepresident@caa-aca.ca for the Vice-President

secretary@caa-aca.ca for the Secretary

treasurer@caa-aca.ca for official financial matters

media@caa-aca.ca for media and communications, led by Priya Bosman

editor@caa-aca.ca for the Editor-in-Chief, Pierre Grandjean

events@caa-aca.ca for general event queries

awards@caa-aca.ca for all awards enquiries

CAA2026symposium@caa-aca.ca for anything on the 2026 symposiums

regionalchapters@caa-aca.ca for CAA Regional Chapter enquiries

specialinterest@caa-aca.ca for CAA Special Interest Groups

emergingacousticians@caa-aca.ca for emerging acousticians and students

volunteer@caa-aca.ca for general volunteering enquiries

Looking ahead

Acoustics Week in Canada returns in fall 2027 in Halifax, with more from the organizing committee soon, and we'll be exhibiting and sponsoring at the International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS 2027) in Victoria, BC next August. And one to pencil in quietly: InterNoise 2028 is coming to Vancouver, with the CAA involved alongside INCE-USA. More on that in due course.

A word from your President

Finally, a thank you. Seeing so many of you re-engage with the CAA this year, volunteering your time and helping push us in the direction we need to go, has been the highlight of it all. There is still a lot to do, and none of it works without us continuing to connect and pull together on the challenges acoustics faces. Our focus is simple: make acoustics matter. Give it more air time, build awareness, and create a future for the industry supported by critical research and education. That means more engagement and connection between our members, and it means working with municipalities, regulators, the public, the media, and educational and research institutions across the country. The future is bright, and it sounds beautifully Canadian.

See you in November.

Dan Clayton, President, on behalf of the CAA Board of Directors.