About
Who we are
The Canadian Centre of Excellence for Anti-Corruption is a non-profit run almost entirely by volunteers, anchored in universities, and built on the idea that organizations get further against corruption together than they do alone.
CCEAC was founded in Ottawa by practitioners who had spent their careers on the inside of ethics and compliance work — in government, in professional services, and in the organizations trying to get it right. They kept meeting the same problem: the knowledge that makes a compliance program work existed, but it was locked inside large organizations that could afford to build it, and priced out of reach of everyone else.
Why universities
CCEAC is anchored in universities rather than in industry, and that is a deliberate choice. An academic home gives the work independence from any single company's interests, the rigour that comes with peer review, and access to the students who will staff compliance functions a decade from now. It also means the centre can outlast the people who founded it.
How it is governed
A small management team runs the day-to-day work, reporting to a board that sets the strategic direction. An advisory committee of practitioners and academics reviews program and content decisions. Everyone who appears in our directory contributes time, expertise or material — nobody is there for the letterhead.
Volunteer-run, and honest about it
Being volunteer-run shapes what CCEAC can do. It means the work moves at the pace of people's evenings and weekends, and that we say no to things we cannot sustain. It also means what does exist is free, and stays free — there is no subscription tier waiting behind it.
Reach
The model has proven portable. The first sister centre opened in Quito in 2020, and the International Network continues to grow with support from Global Affairs Canada and the Basel Institute on Governance.