The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is launching an ad campaign in newspapers across the province to describe its role in strengthening confidence in the province’s capital markets.

An initial series of three ads, developed by Toronto’s TOP Advertising, will begin appearing in daily newspapers on Tuesday under the theme: “Ontario CAs: Protecting the Public Interest in the Post-Enron Era.”

The ads will support a broader communications campaign, including speaking engagements for the Institute’s president and CEO Brian Hunt as well as the launch of its upcoming web site.

“Ontario’s CA profession has always been active in communicating its role and purpose to the wider world,” said Peter Varley , vice president of public affairs. “But times have changed. And in the ‘post-Enron’ environment, we need to step up our efforts to tell our story.”

Varley said that Ontarians are looking to the province’s CA professionals for assurance that they are doing their part to protect the public interest in the wake of U.S. corporate scandals.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants governs 30,000 Chartered Accountants and 3,500 CA students in Ontario.