F97 – Features

By Paul Kitchin, Executive Director, National Association of Career Colleges (NACC)

NACC is an “umbrella” organization representing private career training institutions from across Canada and companies offering products and services to those institutions. NACC represents, supports and protects the interests of its membership by identifying the issues affecting private career training institutions and by contributing to the decision-making process. It keeps members informed and helps government understand the important role of private training institutions in providing skills training in Canada. It also helps provincial associations and individual members by providing them with relevant information, support and assistance.

By Mark Swartz

My prediction is that an increasing number of ‘traditional’ counsellors (both in the career sphere and other areas as well) will try their hand at cyber-counselling. Thus, we’ll see practitioners experimenting with CHAT groups for instantaneous communication; e-mail to respond to more involved questions; phone sessions to deal with immediate issues; and the use of Web-based resources (e.g. self-assessments, career exploration sites, research areas etc.) to assist in the overall delivery of the counselling process. Affordable video-conferencing is just down the road, and may add a whole new wrinkle of its own.

Federal Public Sector Internship Project

The Federal Public Sector Internship Project, a partnership between the Canadian YMCA and Career Edge, will provide 3,000 unemployed or underemployed youth with 12 months of work experience within Federal Departments, agencies and Crown Corporations. Hosted by Treasury Board Secretariat, this initiative will be co-delivered by both Career Edge and the YMCA. It will commence on October 1, 1997 in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax, and in other communities in January 1998. The program ends on September 30, 2000.