Elevating Excellence - New Standards Brand - A stronger symbol for accredited organizations

Last year marked the 10th anniversary of Imagine Canada’s Standards - the only national, bilingual, accreditation program created to improve the governance and operations of charities and nonprofits across Canada and strengthen donor and public confidence in the sector.

This milestone was an opportunity to celebrate, but also to reflect on this journey so far and the path forward. In thinking of the future of the Standards, and the visual identity which aims to illustrate excellence in governance, it became clear that it was an opportune time to revamp the brand for increased impact.

After a year of work behind the scenes, we’re excited to unveil the new brand of the Standards - complete with several versions of the Trustmark for accredited organizations! 

The new design is bold and luminous, and is reminiscent of both a star and a lighthouse. These symbols represent what accreditation is all about: a north star lighting the way to provide guidance on the path to organizational resilience. 

Organizations work hard to obtain accreditation, and we wanted to ensure the design of the Trustmark reflected this commitment by making it more modern and accessible, with a distinctive look, so that the brand could be a more powerful symbol for the 270+ accredited organizations across the country and their stakeholders.

Our hope with the new Standards brand is also to provide a unique identity, apart from our Membership and other programs, that allows accredited organizations to stand out for the accomplishments they have achieved.

In addition to making the Trustmark a more impactful symbol, the refreshed brand gives the Standards a sense of distinction, one that represents its unique nature of being co-created and governed by community leaders. Just like the program was created by and for the sector, the design was chosen based on feedback from donors, funders, accredited organizations and sector leaders. 

With this new exciting visual identity, comes a revamped website! We invite you to visit the updated Standards website to learn more about accreditation and see how the new brand comes to life. 

If you have any questions or comments about the Standards, please don't hesitate to contact our Standards team. 

We are grateful to the program’s founding and presenting sponsor Canada Life for their longtime support and partnership in empowering organizations nationwide to strive for accreditation.