Explore 150+ sessions: Program now available for Cannexus27 conference

The Cannexus27 program has now been released for the conference taking place January 25–27, 2027 at the Rogers Centre Ottawa and online. The program includes more than 150 education sessions to help you respond to economic volatility, AI disruption and the shifting ground under how people learn, work and move through career transitions. 

Cannexus, Canada’s largest bilingual career development conference, brings together professionals across the career and workforce development ecosystem to explore research, policy and practice. The Cannexus27 theme – Navigating Uncertainty, Creating Possibility – speaks to the conditions practitioners are working in and the role of career development in helping people find direction and take action. 

Each year, Cannexus draws 1,600+ career, employment and workforce professionals from across Canada. Delegates can join in Ottawa or online, with all virtual sessions recorded and available for three months post-conference. 

Inspiring keynotes 

Cannexus27 keynotes include: 

• Tyler McGregor, para ice hockey star, cancer survivor and advocate 

• Duncan McCue, award-winning Indigenous journalist and author 

• Dr. Samra Zafar, expert on authentic leadership and inclusive wellness 

Here is just a sampling of the sessions on offer: 

• The Future of Work: First Jobs Are Never Coming Back 

• Under Pressure: A National Study on Career Coach Capacity 

• Data-Backed Best Job Search Practices in the Age of AI 

• Authenticity in the Age of AI Hiring: Career Development When AI Evaluates AI 

• Impact Measurement Blueprint: A Toolkit for Measuring What Matters 

• Legacy Careers®: A New Support Model for Experienced Workers in Transition 

• Advancing Workforce Participation for Neurodivergent Workers 

• Embedding Mental Health in Career Development in Canada and Australia 

• Building Stronger Pathways: Career Development and the Skilled Trades 

• Global Conflict, Local Impact: How War and Instabilities Shape Career Practice 

• Youth Labour Market Challenges: Root Causes and System-Level Solutions 

• Managing Menopause: Supporting Women to Survive and Thrive at Work 

Two pre-conference workshops 

Cannexus27 offers two optional in-person workshops on Sunday, January 24, each limited to 30 people. In the morning, Sonny Wong leads Beyond the Algorithm: Strengthening Career Counselling Practice When Clients Need You Most, on holding counselling competencies alongside AI literacy. In the afternoon, Mark Patterson of Magnet at Toronto Metropolitan University leads Leading Through Uncertainty: An Adaptive Approach to AI in Career Development, which treats AI adoption as an adaptive challenge rather than a technical one. 

Getting approval to attend 

For those who need to make a case to a manager, CERIC has put together talking points and a customizable sample letter covering the sessions, the connections and the ideas delegates bring back. 

Delegates can save by registering by the Early Bird deadline of Friday, Nov. 6. The cost during Early Bird is $398 for the virtual and $698 for the in-person conference. Groups of 5 or more save a further 20% off Early Bird rates, as do members of 40+ supporting organizations. 

Cannexus is presented by CERIC and supported by The Counselling Foundation of Canada and a broad network of supporting organizations.