Nurturing Models for Youth-Focused Internships

The Nurturing Models for Youth-Focused Internships project is an 18-month national initiative led by Future Black Female, in partnership with Brock University, and supported by CERIC. The project responds to a well-documented gap in career development practice: while internships are widely promoted as pathways to employment, many focus narrowly on technical skill development and employer readiness, often overlooking the social, emotional and identity-based barriers that shape outcomes for marginalized youth. Racialized youth, youth with disabilities, and those facing economic disadvantage are disproportionately affected by these gaps, resulting in lower internship completion rates, weaker transitions to employment, and reduced confidence.  

Grounded in evidence-based nurturing principles such as comfort, welcome, containment and protection, the project adapts approaches originally developed in educational settings for use in work-integrated learning and internship environments. These principles emphasize belonging, well-being, relational safety and supported transitions, recognizing that career development is not only technical but also deeply human and contextual. 

Key activities are structured across five phases: 

1. The project will undertake co-design and consultation with marginalized youth, employers, career practitioners and academic partners, including Brock University. These sessions will ensure the model reflects lived experience, employer realities and practitioner needs. 
2. The project will develop a structured Nurturing Internship Model and Toolkit, including supervisor training modules, case studies, problem-based learning exercises, peer mentorship guides and participant resources. 
3. The model will be piloted through structured internships for marginalized youth, supported by peer mentorship, reflection circles and professional development workshops. Employers and supervisors will receive targeted training to apply nurturing and equity-informed supervision practices in real workplace contexts. 
4. The project will conduct a mixed-methods evaluation using surveys, focus groups and supervisor reflection tools to assess youth outcomes, employer practice change and overall effectiveness. 
5. Findings and resources will be disseminated nationally through the Cannexus conference, a CERIC-hosted webinar, policy and practice briefs, and open-access digital platforms. 

Key deliverables include a replicable Nurturing Internship Framework, a practical toolkit for employers and career practitioners, supervisor training curricula, an evaluation report, and policy and practice briefs. In addition, Future Black Female will offer CERIC-facilitated learning opportunities (the Cannexus conference, a national webinar, and a digital repository of tools and case studies accessible to the career development field). 

Future Black Female’s goal through this project is to ensure higher internship completion and confidence among participating youth, increased employer capacity to provide inclusive and supportive supervision, and strengthened career development practice through accessible, evidence-informed tools. Over time, the project aims to influence how internships are designed and delivered across Canada, ensuring that equity, belonging and well-being are embedded alongside skill development. 

By translating nurturing practices into the career development context, this initiative contributes new knowledge, practical tools and scalable models that align with CERIC’s mission to advance research, practice and policy in career counselling and development. 

This project directly responds to a documented and field-identified gap in practitioner knowledge building on CASE’s established history of capacity development in the supported employment sector. The result will be a practical, accessible and immediately usable resource that strengthens the ability of career development professionals across Canada to support jobseekers who experience disability in securing and sustaining meaningful employment.  

Drawing on CASE’s existing curriculum and sector expertise, the project will develop a self-directed learning opportunity with content covering six interconnected topic areas:  

•          Foundations of disability-inclusive practice 
•          Strengths-based approaches to career development with clients experiencing disability 
•          Accessible communication in career development practices 
•          Navigating disability disclosure 
•          Understanding workplace accommodation 
•          Engaging employers on behalf of clients with disabilities 

During the project year, the course will be made freely available to 300 learners and will be available in English and French. The curriculum will be self-paced and hosted on CASE’s learning management system, with a practitioner toolkit designed to extend learning into day-to-day practice. Concurrent with the curriculum launch, CASE will establish an online community of practice open to all program completers, providing a sustained space for peer dialogue, resource sharing and collective problem solving that extends the impact of the curriculum beyond course completion.  

Accessible through CASE’s learning portal, it is expected that learners will be able to self-register for Careers Without Barriers beginning in March 2027. 

By meeting practitioners where they are, offering free access, building on existing trusted CASE curriculum, and connecting learners to one another, this project removes barriers to uptake and ensures the resource reaches those who need it most. The result will be a national learning resource that fills a critical and long-standing gap in the career development field, strengthening professional practice and improving service quality for jobseekers experiencing disability across Canada.