CERIC Annual report reflects back on a year of future-proofing the field

CERIC is pleased to share its 2023 Annual Report, taking stock of all that we’ve accomplished during the past year, while looking ahead to our 20th anniversary. The theme of this annual report is “Future-proofing the field,” and reflects the many exciting projects and initiatives we undertook to prepare the career development sector for what’s next.  

Our CERIC strategic plan, which will remain in place until 2025, outlines two primary strategic mandates that allow us to deliver on our mission of advancing career development in Canada:  

1. Promoting career development as a priority for the public good 
2. Building career development knowledge, mindsets and competencies 

These mandates guide our work and are centred around research and advocacy on the one hand, and education and resource development on the other.  

CERIC continues to do the tireless work of raising the profile of career professionals and career development. Our big tent approach invites engagement and collaboration from interestholders and partners nationally as well as globally. Our 19th year saw increased media coverage of our efforts as well as high-profile international exposure with keynote talks in New Zealand and Austria.  

The past year, CERIC hosted the first-ever fully hybrid Cannexus conference. Our team leveraged what it learned about hosting virtual events during the pandemic with our existing knowledge of how to run world-class in-person conferences. A pivotal moment for CERIC, Cannexus 2023 allowed us to expand our reach to new attendees on a global scale. The hybrid nature of the event also made the conference more accessible and inclusive as attendees and presenters alike could join from anywhere.  

Our research and advocacy initiatives to raise the profile of the field took on many forms in 2023, including the thought-provoking Career Development in 2040 report, which identifies 10 megatrends that workers, employers – as well as those who advise them – need to understand in a labour market facing massive disruption. Development of a National Advocacy Campaign kicked-off with important conversations taking place across the country to explore how we can best promote why our work matters. Throughout the past year, research was also carried out that will for the first time deliver a comprehensive picture of who is doing what career development work and where in Canada. The resulting report Hidden Sector, Hidden Talent: Mapping Canada’s Career Development Sector will provide rich insights to drive advocacy. 

It was an equally prolific year for CERIC with its educational offerings as we held in-depth webinars on a range of topics, including Indigenous approaches to career development, trauma-informed practice, and neurodivergence in career development, to name just a few. A new publication, the Exploring Possibilities! Journeying Through Career-Related Learning in Grades 4–6: A Teaching Toolkit shines a light on the value and many ways of undertaking career-related learning in elementary schools. Resources such as these are designed to be practical and immediately useful. Another example of this is the release in 2024 of Practice Principles: Career Theories and Models at Work, the follow-up to the original book that featured leading theorists from around the world. 

The work achieved by CERIC in 2023 was under the leadership of new Executive Director Kay Castelle, building on the solid footing established by founding Executive Director Riz Ibrahim. The year came to a close with our 20th anniversary on the horizon and many seeds planted for a fruitful anniversary in 2024. CERIC is poised for another bold year ahead, at the forefront of an ambitious global movement to solidify an evidence base for the field and communicate the transformative potential of career development. 

In addition to these highlights, as well as financial statements, the CERIC 2023 Annual Report includes an acknowledgement of CERIC staff as well as a special thank you to the Board of Directors – chaired by the award-winning Dr. Candy Ho – Advisory Committee volunteers, and our funder, The Counselling Foundation of Canada, for its steadfast support.