A total of 24 career development professionals from across Canada will be attending the virtual Cannexus22 conference, courtesy of two bursaries administered by CERIC. The Marilyn Van Norman Bursary has been awarded to 13 practitioners from community-based employment agencies and the Young Professionals Bursary granted to 11 early career professionals.

Funded by The Counselling Foundation of Canada, the Marilyn Van Norman Bursary is given in the name of CERIC’s former Director of Research Initiatives and recognizes her more than 40 years of leadership in career development. Recipients of the Marilyn Van Norman Bursary this year represent the country from coast to coast to coast, including British Columbia, Northwest Territories, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Bursary winners are non-profit community-based career development and employment practitioners who work with a range of client populations, including Indigenous peoples, refugees, immigrants, international students, Black communities, francophones and unemployed adults.

The Young Professionals Bursary is a partnership between CERIC and the Nova Scotia Career Development Association (NSCDA) designed to support emerging employment and career development practitioners. Bursaries are awarded to ensure the diverse voices of the new generation of employment and career practitioners are represented and that young professionals can benefit from the professional development and networking at the virtual conference. Preference is given to applicants from equity-seeking groups. The young professionals – 30 years of age or younger – who are among the winners this year include those from PEI, Quebec and Alberta. They work for universities, school boards, government as well as community associations.

A bursary provides a full registration for the virtual Cannexus conference. The Cannexus22 conference takes place January 24-26, 2022.  Canada’s largest bilingual career and workforce development conference, Cannexus22 features 150+ sessions and will continue to reimagine how career development can be a powerful catalyst in pandemic recovery.