The Canadian Jewellers Association (CJA) will hold its second annual Industry Summit in Toronto on Oct. 21, expanding the event with more educational sessions and increased opportunities for jewelers to meet and talk shop.
Two well-attended parts of the first CJA Summit—held last October in Vancouver—will return in 2024: the cocktail hour and the awards dinner. The daylong Summit, where national and international jewelry professionals can network and share best practices, will take place at the St. Regis Toronto, a luxury hotel and conference center in the heart of downtown.
CJA office manager Carla Adams describes the Industry Summit as the association’s signature event, noting that the first one proved a tremendous success in terms of attendance and participant feedback. While the focus is decidedly Canadian, jewelry professionals from around the world are invited to attend, she says.
“The CJA team has been hard at work crafting what will be an incredible day for attendees of the CJA Industry Summit,” Adams tells JCK. “We are looking forward to bringing together the jewelry community once again this year.”
A complete schedule of events will be released during the summer, says Adams. She hopes this year’s programming will produce the same lively conversation and momentum toward improving sales that came out of the inaugural Summit’s educational talks, especially the one that brought retail store owners together to talk about industry issues.
“The schedule has been expanded, allowing more time for connecting and a few hidden gems throughout the day,” Adams says. “Building on last year’s successful retail panel, attendees can expect to have double the excitement this year.”
CJA Summit organizers selected Toronto to ensure maximum participation, as traveling across Canada can be expensive. The long-term goal is to hold the Summit in a different location each year, to allow jewelers of all sizes from across the country to attend, Adams says.
More than 100 people attended the first Industry Summit, which included CJA’s annual general meeting and four keynote speakers. Also in 2023, CJA facilitated a conversation with the Women’s Jewelry Association that led to the creation of WJA’s first Canadian chapter. It was established in February 2024, with two co-presidents: Alanna Campbell, owner of AC Appraisals in the Ottawa area and CJA membership coordinator, and Shelbey Dodds, a Toronto-based jeweler and partner in metalcasting company Triocast.
Top: Canadian Jewellers Association chair Angela Betteridge addresses participants at the first CJA Industry Summit last year in Vancouver. (Photos courtesy of CJA)
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