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Peer advisory · CEO groups · Business owners

MacKay CEO Forums

Canadian CEOs, business owners and senior executives, split into forums by role and company size

A profile page holds what the organization publishes and what named sources report: who it admits, what it costs, how it is structured, where it operates, and how it has changed. Every figure carries the date it was checked. A dash means the organization does not publish that fact.

Founded2005
HeadquartersNorth Vancouver, Canada
Members1,300as of September 2026
Chapters12
FootprintCanada: Forum Chairs listed in twelve regions across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia
InvitationNot required

Founding — MacKay's own pages say "more than 20 years" and cite "5,000+ Alumni members across Canada over 20 years" without naming a year; the Peer Resources directory dates the founding to 2005. Nancy MacKay, PhD is listed as Founder and CEO on the leadership page.

MacKay CEO Forums runs professionally facilitated peer forums for Canadian chief executives, business owners and senior executives. Forums hold about 14 members and meet seven times a year: six full-day sessions plus a two-day retreat, with members required to attend at least four of the seven. Each forum is led by a certified Forum Chair and members are matched into non-competing groups. Five membership tiers are published with their prices, which is unusual for the category: Community ($4,660), Executive ($9,300), CEO ($12,000), Family Enterprise ($14,000, bundling a Family Enterprise Canada membership) and Large Enterprise ($18,000, for companies above $1 billion in revenue), all before GST/HST. The CEO and Family Enterprise tiers are open to leaders of companies from about $5 million to $5 billion in revenue; the Executive tier is for VP, SVP, CXO and general-manager roles at companies above $5 million. Community membership carries no forum place and functions as a networking and events tier. MacKay is a certified B Corporation and is headquartered in North Vancouver.

How it works

Members are matched into a forum of about 14 non-competing peers led by a certified Forum Chair. Forums meet for six full days a year plus a two-day retreat, at a rotating member host in the Large Enterprise tier. Large Enterprise members also receive four hours a year of one-to-one time with their Chair. Outside the forum, members attend speaker sessions and national summits and can join member WhatsApp groups on specific topics.

Typical member

Members are chief executives, owners and senior executives of Canadian companies with revenue from about $5 million to over $5 billion, with a separate tier for companies above $1 billion. MacKay states that 37% of members are women.

Requirements are the tests the organization itself publishes — an age ceiling, a company-revenue floor, a net-worth minimum, a role. Where a figure straddles a range, the organization's own assessment decides. Local chapters can apply stricter tests than the published standard.

CriterionPublished requirementNoteProvenance
Role or title CEO Membership: CEO, business owner or founder Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Minimum company revenue CEO Membership: annual company revenue $5MM-$5B+ Currency is not stated on the page; MacKay prices in Canadian dollars plus GST/HST. Verified September 2026Medium confidenceSource ↗
Minimum company revenue Large Enterprise Membership: annual company revenue $1B+ Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Role or title Executive Membership: senior executive (VP, SVP, CXO, GM) at a company with $5MM+ revenue Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Role or title Family Enterprise Membership: CEO, president or business owner of a family enterprise with $5MM-$5B+ revenue Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Other criterion Members must commit to attend at least 4 of the 7 annual forum meetings Applies to the forum tiers, not to Community membership. Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Other criterion Forums are composed of carefully matched, non-competing peers Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Geographic restriction Canada Forum Chairs are listed only in Canadian regions. Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Application process
Prospective members apply through the Join MacKay pages or by contacting the office, then are screened for strategic fit and matched to a forum of non-competing peers. Community members may be invited to sit in on a full-day forum meeting before committing to a forum tier.
Sponsor required
No
Selectivity
Not publicly disclosed. MacKay says peer groups are screened for strategic fit but publishes no acceptance rate.
Membership term
Annual (dues quoted as "full year")

Published criteria as verified on the dates shown. Final eligibility and admission decisions belong entirely to MacKay CEO Forums. See how you compare against these criteria →

Initiation fees are paid once on joining; dues recur. Chapter dues, retreats, travel and events are usually additional and are listed separately when the organization discloses them. Figures are as published or reported on the date shown — not quotations.

CostFirst yearThree yearsNoteProvenance
Annual duesa year C$12,000C$36,000 CEO Membership: "$12,000 (full year)". Prices are quoted before GST/HST. Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Annual duesa year C$18,000alternative tier, not added Large Enterprise Membership: "$18,000 (full year)", for companies above $1B revenue. Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Annual duesa year C$9,300alternative tier, not added Executive Membership: "$9,300 (full year)". Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Annual duesa year C$14,000alternative tier, not added Family Enterprise Membership: "$14,000 (full year)", including a Family Enterprise Canada membership MacKay values at $2,000. Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Annual duesa year C$4,660alternative tier, not added Community Membership: "$4,660 + GST/HST". No forum place; dues apply toward a forum membership if the member later joins one. Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Initiation fee Not publicly disclosed; no joining fee is mentioned on the membership pages.
Estimated total, disclosed figures onlyC$12,000C$36,000 Not counted: Annual dues (4 alternative tiers, not added), Initiation fee.
Ranges are taken at their midpoint; monthly dues are multiplied by twelve; the first-listed figure of each fee type is counted and later tiers of the same type are shown but not added; retreats, travel, events and anything the organization does not publish are left out rather than guessed. Figures are as published or reported on the date shown — not a quotation.

Structure and programming

Meeting frequency
Seven forum meetings a year: six full-day sessions plus a two-day retreat; plus speaker sessions and national summits
Peer forums
Forums of about 14 carefully matched, non-competing members led by a certified Forum Chair
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is one of MacKay's stated core values; forums are described as confidential, judgement-free spaces
Time commitment
Roughly eight meeting days a year at full attendance; members must attend at least four of the seven meetings
Organized as
Forum based, chapter based, event focused
Countries
Canada
Structure
Confidential peer forumsYes
Local chaptersYes
Virtual membershipNot documented
Online communityYes
Member directoryPartial
EventsYes
Programming
Educational programmingYes
Leadership developmentYes
RetreatsYes
TravelNo
Family
Family programmingYes
Spouse and partner programmingNot documented
Next-generation programmingNo
Capital and giving
Investment discussionsPartial
Investment opportunitiesNo
Philanthropic componentPartial
Emphasis
Networking emphasisHigh
Social emphasisMedium

Where it operates

11 cities with a page on this site
Chapter or locationCityCountrySource
MacKay CEO Forums - Calgary region Calgary Canada Source ↗
MacKay CEO Forums - Edmonton region Edmonton Canada Source ↗
MacKay CEO Forums - Abbotsford region Abbotsford Canada Source ↗
MacKay CEO Forums - Kelowna region Kelowna Canada Source ↗
MacKay CEO Forums - Langley region Langley Canada Source ↗
MacKay CEO Forums - Vancouver region Vancouver Canada Source ↗
MacKay CEO Forums - Victoria region Victoria Canada Source ↗
MacKay CEO Forums - Halifax region Halifax Canada Source ↗
MacKay CEO Forums - Ottawa region Ottawa Canada Source ↗
MacKay CEO Forums - Greater Toronto Area region Toronto Canada Source ↗
MacKay CEO Forums - Toronto region Toronto Canada Source ↗
MacKay CEO Forums - Saskatoon region Saskatoon Canada Source ↗

Independent context

MacKay is the most price-transparent peer-advisory organisation in this batch: all five tiers are published on the site with dollar figures, which makes it directly comparable with TEC Canada, where pricing is quoted only after an application. The design deliberately trades meeting frequency for time efficiency - seven meeting days a year against the twelve half-days plus twelve coaching sessions of the Vistage/TEC model - and MacKay markets that as "least time-intensive", so a leader who wants monthly contact and heavy one-to-one coaching is a poor fit. The Community tier at $4,660 is a low-commitment entry point rather than a peer group, and it is worth being clear about that before joining. The published "708% Reported ROI" is a member-survey figure with no disclosed methodology and should not be read as an independently measured return. Coverage is Canadian only, and thin outside BC, Alberta and Ontario.

Editorial analysis by Peer Group Guide editors. It is separated from the record above and follows the editorial policy.

Appears in: CEO peer groups without an upper age limit

History and changes

Site-wide change log →
  1. milestoneMacKay CEO Forums founded by Nancy MacKay, PhD, who remains Founder and CEO ↗
  2. milestoneMacKay lists 1,300+ active members and 5,000+ alumni across Canada over more than 20 years ↗

Milestones as published by the organization or reported by a named source. “Record” entries are changes to this site’s own record of the organization, kept in the public change log rather than overwritten.

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Last verified: 6 September 2026 Confidence: High confidence Report an error on this page

Sources

  1. CEO Peer Learning and Leadership Development - MacKay CEO Forums, MacKay CEO Forums. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
  2. About Us - MacKay CEO Forums, MacKay CEO Forums. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
  3. Join MacKay - MacKay CEO Forums, MacKay CEO Forums. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
  4. Leadership Team - MacKay CEO Forums, MacKay CEO Forums. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
  5. Forum Chair regions index (XML sitemap), MacKay CEO Forums. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
  6. CEO Membership - MacKay CEO Forums, MacKay CEO Forums. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
  7. Large Enterprise Membership - MacKay CEO Forums, MacKay CEO Forums. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
  8. Executive Membership - MacKay CEO Forums, MacKay CEO Forums. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
  9. Family Enterprise Membership - MacKay CEO Forums, MacKay CEO Forums. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
  10. Community Membership - MacKay CEO Forums, MacKay CEO Forums. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
  11. Fee-Based Peer Groups, Peer Resources. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 8

Source tiers follow the published hierarchy: 1 official site · 2 official membership materials · 3 application documents · 4 annual reports · 5 government filings · 6 reliable business publications · 7 credible interviews · 8 other reputable secondary sources. Sources and data policy.

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