Thank you for your ongoing support of the Wilderness Canoe Association (WCA). Your purchase of a WCA membership ensures the ongoing success of the WCA, your access to paddling and social events, production of our Nastawgan journal and the continuing support of MyCCR Canoe Routes.
WCA is changing all future memberships to expire on March 31
Currently all memberships expire 1 year from the date they are purchased. To ease the administrative burden on the volunteers who support the WCA, and especially our membership secretary, and to make it easier for you to remember when to renew your membership, the WCA Board has decided to change all future memberships so that they expire on a single date - March 31. We picked March 31 because it is the start of paddling season and it will allow members who prefer to renew their membership in person to do so at events such as our AGM, the WCA Symposium and other venues like the Outdoor Adventure Show which are typically held before March 31.
What does this change mean for you?
We want to make this change as easy as possible to implement, but also to have minimal financial impact on the club. For the majority of WCA members (about 65%) this change will mean a one-time bonus of additional membership time. However, for a minority of members (about 35%) this change will shorten their membership period for this year. For these members we offer the opportunity to request a one-time partial refund of their membership dues. To be eligible for this refund, members must renew by their current membership expiry date, must be entitled to a refund of more than $10, and must send a request for refund in writing to our WCA treasurer (treasurer@wildernesscanoe.ca). We will do our best to process these requests as quickly as possible, but it is a manual process so may take some time.
Following are more details about this change based on your current expiry date.
If your membership currently expires from January 1 to March 31 (about 65% of our membership)
Your new expiry will be March 31 of the same year. This means you’ll get a one-time bonus of up to 3 extra months of membership at no additional cost. You do not have to take any action.
Example: If your membership currently expires January 31, 2019, we will change your expiry date to March 31, 2019 and you have a one-time bonus of 2 months of membership at no additional cost. Your renewal after that will always be for the period April 1 to March 31.
If your membership currently expires from April 1 to December 31 (about 35% of our membership)
Your new expiry will be March 31 of the following year. This means that for this year only, your membership will be shorter than a full year. You may request a one-time partial refund of your membership dues if:
1) You renew by your current membership expiry date;
2) You will be entitled to a refund of more than $10 based on the fraction of your
shortened annual membership; and
3) You send a request for refund in writing to treasurer@wildernesscanoe.ca.
Example: If your membership currently expires September 30, 2018 and you renew for one more year, we will change your expiry date to March 31, 2019, which will shorten your membership period to about 6 months instead of 12 months. You will be entitled to request a one-time partial refund of your membership dues of about $17 based on a single membership. Your renewal after that will always be for the period April 1 to March 31.
Questions
Please send us an email at treasurer@wildernesscanoe.ca or write us a letter if you have any questions or comments. You can also contact any of the WCA Board members (contact information is in Nastawgan and on our website).
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How can I figure out my membership expiry date?
A1: Login on www.wildernesscanoe.ca/WCA_home. Go to My account>View Tab>Expiring WCA Membership date will be posted.
A2: Mail a expiry date request to P.O. Box 91068, 2901 Bayview Ave.Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2K 2Y6.
A3: Contact membership@wildernesscanoe.ca and request current expiry date.
Q: Why don’t you just give all members additional months of membership to move everyone to a future March 31 expiry date.
A: We looked at this option, but the cost from loss of membership dues was over $3000 and the Board did not think this was in the best fiscal interests of the WCA and all members.
Q: How will you refund partial memberships?
A: If the original membership was paid for by credit card, we believe we can process a partial repayment. If the original payment was not by credit card, we will work with the member to determine how to best process the refund.
Q: Will I still receive a reminder that my membership is due for renewal?
A: Yes. Once all memberships expire on March 31 we will be able to provide plenty of reminders of your upcoming renewal.
Q: Can I pay extra to move my expiry date forward to March 31 (instead of requesting a refund)?
A: Yes but please contact us prior to your expiry date and we will help you do this as it may not be possible to do through the website.
Q: Can I get a partial refund if I don’t plan to renew my membership?
A: No – partial refunds are only offered to members meeting the noted conditions, one of which is to renew your membership before your expiry date.
Emmy Hendrickx Membership
Gary Ataman WCA Chairman