About Colleges and Institutes Canada

Founded in 1972, our association serves as the national and international voice of Canada’s largest post-secondary education network.

Our work is guided by a simple yet ambitious vision: building better futures for peoples and communities. We achieve this by strengthening Canada’s system of publicly supported colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics.

With more than 95% of Canadians living within 50 km of a member institution, and thanks to our extensive reach around the globe, the impact of our network is unmatched, delivering tangible results for students, employers and our diverse partners.

Just like our members, we are an agile organization that is able to adapt and take on new projects as the need arises in order to futureproof communities in Canada and abroad.  

 We are guided in this work by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and are particularly committed to equity, diversity and inclusion; sustainable development; access to quality education; decent work for all and climate action. 

We lead by example and are proud of the diversity within our own team and governance. We also recognize the critical role of education in supporting reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, supporting the full potential of our network all across Canada.

In that spirit, we respectfully acknowledge that CICan’s offices in Ottawa are located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation. 

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Strategic Plan

In 2018, Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) launched one of the most extensive consultations in our 45-year history to have meaningful conversations and develop a plan to guide our work for the next five years. The coming five years will be critical for the Canadian workforce as it adjusts to rapid and profound disruptions linked to changing and emerging technologies. As our members across the country respond to this new reality, this strategic plan will position us at the forefront of the discussions on the future of skills and work.By embracing our role as advocates, capacity-builders, and drivers of knowledge, our new strategic plan will ensure that we continue to strengthen the system by supporting our members in building a better Canada.

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