A total of 41 career development professionals from Canada and across the Asia-Pacific will be attending the virtual edition of the Cannexus23 conference, courtesy of bursaries and scholarships administered by CERIC. The Marilyn Van Norman Bursary has been provided to 13 practitioners from community-based employment agencies, the Young Professionals Bursary granted to 13 early career professionals and the APCDA Cannexus Scholarship awarded to 15 career development practitioners from non-high-income countries.

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 New Brunswick. Bursary winners are non-profit community-based career development and employment practitioners who work at military family resource centres, food banks, immigrant centres, mental health groups and associations for community living.

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 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 Ontario, Quebec and Alberta. Many winners cited having started their roles during the pandemic and being eager to connect with colleagues. They also want to further develop their skills in order to better support their clients and make a lasting impact on their communities.

CERIC is partnering for the first time with the Asia Pacific Career Development Association to offer scholarships to APCDA members to attend the Cannexus23 conference. The scholarships are sponsored by the Marine Institute of Memorial University. Recipients are from Lebanon, the Philippines, Nepal, Vietnam, India and South Africa. They work for universities, departments of education and in high school guidance counselling. Many plan to use the information they gain at Cannexus to train counsellors and teachers in their home countries and to improve career education for students. The participation of APCDA members is expected to also enrich the conference experience for all attendees who can learn from their Asia Pacific counterparts.

Each bursary or scholarship provides a full registration for the virtual portion of the Cannexus conference. The Cannexus conference takes place January 23-25, 2023 both virtually and in Ottawa. Canada’s largest bilingual conference of its kind, Cannexus23 features 150+ sessions exploring innovative approaches in career and workforce development.