Category: Boosting Innovation

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December 16, 2025

This Year’s Actionable Insights

What’s On My Mind? With Pari Johnston.

When Canada and its communities need solutions, colleges and institutes show up – this year was no different. As I mark the end of my second year at CICan, I’m reflecting on how we rose as a sector to meet the moment.

Consider these actionable insights to continue driving our country forward:

1. Be Purposeful

In once-in-a-generation times of national consequence like these, Canada needs our institutions more than ever. We are the key partners in getting things done at pace and scale.

This year, we showed that when we come together to think and act strategically about workforce solutions, coordinate in real time across the sector on program design, and leverage our industry and community partnerships to scale impact, Canada wins.

Impact Follows Purpose

We came together with purpose at CICan’s inaugural Leaders Summit this April to drive bold action for Canada – bringing together the right people at the right time to ask the right questions about where Canada’s challenges, a new government’s priorities, and the big opportunities in postsecondary education take shape.

Next Year: Building a Strong and Secure Canada

Where bold ambition and sector transformation intersect, CICan’s 2026 Connections Conference will turn ideas into actions that align the best of what our sector has to offer with Canada’s most pressing national priorities. We are driving the future of postsecondary education in the direction our country and communities need us to go.

2. Be the Institutions Canada – and its Communities – Need

Through unprecedented challenges this past year, we showed resolve and resilience as a sector and as a country. Canadians held firm in the face of tariffs, transformed industries, and built new trading partnerships – and as a sector, we showed that when we double down on what we do best, our communities come out on top.

Our institutions launched new programs to train the skilled workers who will meet Canada’s AI adoption imperative, retool domestic manufacturing, build more homes better and faster, take care of more patients and aging family members, and support Canada’s energy production and transition – all while ensuring that we remain the most accessible postsecondary institutions in the country.

This resolve to be a beacon of opportunity for our learners and our communities is happening at a time when college leaders face unprecedented operating and financial challenges.

Our college graduates are the builders, makers, and doers Canadians need most. We need to invest in a sustainable public training system for their future and for Canada’s.

Coordination Maximizes Impact

We mobilized this year to form CICan’s College Defence Training and Innovation Network – a pan-Canadian coalition of colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics leading sector action to provide training and research solutions at scale to make real the government’s historic investments in military and defence readiness.

3. Think Place-Based

Ninety-five percent of Canadians live within 50 km of a Canadian college or institute – in every corner of the country, they are anchor institutions for learners, communities, and businesses in times of precarity.

This year, in problem-driven, people-oriented, place-based innovation, we showed that the breadth and reach of our network is a vital Canadian asset.

Innovation Canada Needs

College-led research and innovation bring partners together to develop the economic and social solutions Canada needs most – like building homes better and faster, strengthening our sovereign defence capabilities, boosting energy production and transition, and getting major national projects done.

Colleges lead over 8,500 applied research projects that help businesses – primarily small and medium-sized Canadian enterprises – transform their operations to be more productive and competitive. This translates into nearly 9,000 new products, prototypes, processes, and services that deliver downstream impact that benefits the local economy, that generate and keep wealth at home, and that build strong and prosperous communities.

4. Turn Intentions to Action

As the most accessible postsecondary institutions, we have so much to learn and gain from Indigenous-led approaches to benefit learners, communities, and the entire college system. By working authentically with Indigenous partners, we can turn intention into action to advance greater economic reconciliation.

Meaningful Reconciliation through Action

Together with three of our leading Indigenous Institutes of Education, we launched Mamawi, CICan’s first Indigenous-led national initiative. This is a tremendous opportunity to work together with Indigenous learners and communities and CICan members to benefit all Canadians and to explore building business and entrepreneurship training with a new lens – grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing and being.

5. Meet the Moment

Canadians asked for change – and Prime Minister Carney presented a plan to build boldly with strategy and ambition by catalyzing private sector investment and infrastructure, helping businesses harness AI and new technologies to be more productive, and delivering local and national training solutions for Canada’s defence needs.

To achieve the nation-building objectives of Budget 2025, with the right investments, colleges and institutes are ready partners, as we have always been.

This year, we showed that the path to Canada’s future runs right through public colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, polytechnics, and Indigenous Institutes of Education in every corner of the country.

Up Next: A New Strategic Direction

At CICan, we’re always evolving, laser-focused on relevance and impact, for our members, for Canadians, and for our country. This year, we undertook to redefine how we convene, mobilize, and champion our members to build strong colleges, strong communities, and a strong Canada.

There’s more work ahead of us in the coming year. The CICan of the Future is committed to being the national association that best serves our members – and best positions the sector and its leaders to drive the transformation that will define a strong and secure future for Canada – and Canadian communities – from coast to coast to coast.

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September 11, 2025

Real Impact Starts Here

What’s On My Mind? With Pari Johnston.

There is a visceral buzz right now as thousands of students return to postsecondary campuses across the country. I should know – I am the proud parent of one with the same butterflies, hopes and dreams for my kid’s future as parents in Swift Current, Sherbrooke and Sault Ste. Marie.

As college leaders return to campus to welcome these students, there are big priorities and even bigger demands on the horizon.

Members of Parliament will soon return to the House of Commons to hash out a plan to deliver for Canadians – to expand and strengthen trade and export relationships, boost housing construction, invest in national defence, increase energy production, and support businesses to be more productive, among other priorities.

Making it happen will require a vision anchored in and coordinated across every community in the country. 

As a network, it’s time to showcase what we can do. 

The federal government has ambitions to build the strongest economy in the G7. To do so, Canada needs a highly skilled, agile and mobile workforce to build; strong and resilient businesses to grow; and mission-driven, place-based and hands-on innovation to solve our national challenges.

The plan starts on a college campus

  • Your faculty provide training for Canada’s young people, mid-career workers, newcomers and international students, new military recruits, and veterans transitioning into civilian jobs. 
  • Your state-of-the-art facilities equip the next generation of workers with the productivity-boosting skills needed to leverage technological innovations to build more and better. 
  • Your research labs, Centres collégiaux de transfert de technologies and Technology Access Centres develop the solutions that help businesses derisk, adapt, and commercialize new technologies that improve the lives of Canadians.

In short, you meet the moment.

Each time I visit a member college, CEGEP, institute, or polytechnic campus (and I’ve been to over 40 in 9 provinces since I started 18 months ago), I see how our institutions grow talent that delivers on the things we need most, drive new ideas that take us where we need to go, and make real differences in the lives of Canadians.

Join a Coordinated National Campaign

While my team and I continue to tell your story of impact in Ottawa, your on-the-ground expertise and community connections bring that story to life. 

This October, we’re hosting CICan’s inaugural Campus Connection Week – a coordinated engagement effort designed to highlight the work and impact of Canada’s public colleges, institutes, CEGEPs and polytechnics.

  • How to participate? This Fall, invite a Minister, Member of Parliament or Senator to campus – to tour a lab or training space, meet students, faculty, and campus leaders, speak to community partners and showcase the real work colleges and institutes do every day to train skilled workers, support businesses and help build strong, prosperous communities.  Learn more.

Canada has ambitious plans

At a time when the country is facing a deepening housing crisis, aging demographics and critical labour shortages, lagging productivity, rising security demands, and an urgent need to diversify our energy markets and supply, the leadership of our sector matters more than ever. These are not local or isolated issues – they are national in scope and demand coordinated solutions with all levels of government working together with key partners.

In every province and territory, Canada’s public colleges and institutes are strategically positioned to support these priorities and the big projects needed to respond. 

My mission for the coming academic year: that more Parliamentarians will see, hear, and understand that real impact starts here and make the necessary investments.

Training for a Strong and Secure Canada

In the context of Canada’s most pressing challenges, we need colleges and institutes to help build a nation. With strategy, skills, and innovation, our sector can help Build Canada, support Canada’s armed forces, expand Canada’s defence research capabilities, and grow a talent pipeline that will build the national infrastructure needed to deliver.

A strong and secure Canada is a skilled Canada.

Read CICan’s pre-budget submission

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July 11, 2025

Defence Strength Built on People and Innovation

Prime Minister Mark Carney is making new defence investments to defend our people and our values, to secure our sovereignty, and to protect our allies. More than just a budget line, the announcement of over $9 billion is a bold call to action as Canada recalibrates and rebuilds in a rapidly shifting global landscape.

With alliances under strain and global competition and conflict intensifying, doubling down on defence capabilities, innovative industrial strategy and personnel is necessary to meet the moment with decisive action.

But bold investments alone aren’t enough. Achieving the ambitious goal of recruiting 13,000 new CAF members and advancing BOREALIS — the Bureau of Research, Engineering and Advanced Leadership in Innovation and Science — initiative means investing in people, skills, and made-in-Canada systems, capabilities and innovation. Lasting impact will come from leveraging and scaling the proven strength of partners who have long supported Canada’s national resilience.

Public colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics are among those key partners. They’re building talent, training workers, and powering the jobs and solutions that support our defence readiness — and they’re ready to do more.

This was a key focus of CICan’s 2025 Leaders Summit held in April, where CICan members explored how we can work together to build a truly pan-Canadian network of Military-Connected Campuses – supporting CAF recruitment, delivering certified training, and helping military families transition through subsidized education.

Recognized Military Training

Colleges and institutes across Canada offer a wide range of programs aligned with the needs of the CAF, particularly in high-demand technical fields such as cybersecurity, health care, engineering, and logistics.

And, a growing number of colleges and institutes are going even further to support military-connected learners through Military-connected Campuses (MCCs), which play a vital role in supporting retention and successful transition, helping military-connected learners upskill, reskill, and thrive during and after service.

  • Algonquin College, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Fanshawe College, Georgian College, Humber Polytechnic, Lambton College, Loyalist College, Nova Scotia Community College, and Portage College – all offer tailored supports, transition pathways, and targeted programming designed specifically for CAF members, veterans, Department of National Defence employees, and their families.
  • Read more: The CAF Education Experience Equivalency (CAF 3E) Consultancy Team supports this alignment by identifying civilian post-secondary programs that meet the training needs of CAF occupations with direct civilian equivalent

Civilian Workforce Development

With defence needs expanding beyond the uniformed military, colleges and institutes are also actively training a growing civilian workforce to support CAF missions and infrastructure.

For example:

  • Fanshawe College – home to Canada’s first-ever Military Connected College – supports learning-to-employment pathways for military-connected learners pursuing careers in the skilled trades.
  • Nova Scotia Community College delivers skill development in marine, aerospace, and defence technologies – sectors critical to Canada’s operational readiness.
  • Forty-six Canadian post-secondary institutions – including BCIT, Camosun College, Centennial College, Canadore College, and Conestoga College – have engaged in defence-related skills training and upskilling initiatives through the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy.
  • Canada’s colleges and institutes also offer top-tier culinary training and can support military chef schools by expanding their capacity to meet growing demand for skilled talent.
  • Additionally, the Non-Commissioned Member Subsidized Training and Education Plan lists more than 200 fully funded college and institute programs for current or aspiring CAF members (from trades to advanced tech) helping to bridge education and service.

Applied Research & Innovation

Colleges and institutes are hubs for applied research that drives innovation in defence technologies – everything from advanced materials and robotics to Arctic resilience and cyber defence.

  • SAIT is home to Canada’s first remotely piloted aviation training centre, with immersive mission planning using virtual reality and simulation labs supporting remotely piloted systems.
  • Camosun College supports the defence and emergency sectors with 3D printing, robotics, and simulation. The college has collaborated on projects ranging from unmanned aerial vehicles to driving simulators and even face shield production during COVID-19.
  • Nova Scotia Community College maps vulnerable coastlines through its Applied Geomatics Research Group, using high-resolution remote sensing, with applications in flood risk, erosion mitigation, and maritime defence.
  • Cégep Edouard-Montpetit’s Aerospace Technology Centre supports SMEs in aerospace innovation, enhancing their capacity to deliver high-quality components and systems.
  • Cégep Lionel-Groulx’s CIMEQ centre advances embedded, connected, distributed, and intelligent microelectronic systems – key for smart automation and predictive defence technologies.
  • Niagara College’s Advanced Manufacturing lab supports a wide range of sectors through expertise in metrology services, mechanical, electronic, mechatronic design and photonics, which can be used to improve the design of technologies used by the armed forces.

College and institute applied research expertise can also be leveraged to support the work that will be undertaken by BOREALIS to help the defence industry adopt new made-in-Canada innovative technologies.

Northern Security & Arctic Readiness

CICan members north of 60° – Yukon University, Nunavut Arctic College, Aurora College, and Collège nordique francophone – are the primary providers of post-secondary education in the region and are well positioned to train the skilled workforce needed to support Arctic sovereignty and security.

  • These institutions are active members of the University of the Arctic (UArctic) – a network fostering Indigenous research, regional innovation, and training across the circumpolar North. They collaborate with southern partners like Conestoga, Keyano, and Northlands colleges to build resilient, regionally grounded solutions.

Spotlight on Collaboration: Quebec’s Naval Training Consortium

Did you know that six CEGEPs have come together to meet Quebec’s shipbuilding needs by integrating robotics, marine materials technology, and electronics into next-generation naval construction programs? This is the kind of regionally grounded, industry-driven training and innovation Canada needs more of to remain competitive and resilient!

The Consortium de formation en construction navale is led by the Institut Maritime du Québec.

What it Will Take:

Canada’s defence investments are a call to action, and our pan-Canadian network of colleges, institutes, CEGEPs and polytechnics are the key partners needed to drive the transformation – to rebuild, rearm, and reinvest in the Canadian Armed Forces and advance Canada’s defence industrial strategy.

Realizing this vision will require:

  • Targeted investment in training the civilian defence workforce;
  • Support for strategic partnerships with military schools aligned to CAF occupations with civilian equivalency; and
  • Backed expansion of college-led applied research and innovation through initiatives like BOREALIS.

The College Defence Training and Innovation Network

To mobilize our network, CICan is convening a coalition of member institutions interested in playing a leadership role to support Canada’s historic investments in our military capacity and defence infrastructure. Together, we’ll highlight the essential role of our sector, shape national conversations, and collaborate closely with federal partners.

Learn more and join our new defence network!

Canada’s prosperous and secure future is being built now. Meeting the ambition and urgency of the moment will mean building it together with proven partners.

Let’s build it together.

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April 15, 2025

Meeting Canada’s Moment

A federal election is two weeks away and Canada is at a turning point. The next government will shape Canada’s future, setting priorities on everything from housing and workforce development to resource development and global competitiveness.

For any government to succeed in delivering on its promises, Canada’s public colleges, institutes, CEGEPs and polytechnics are essential.

Coming Together When It Matters

At CICan, we work year-round with the federal government to ensure our members have what they need to thrive

That means bringing a unified national voice for the sector to Ottawa, working with the right people and partner organizations, shaping the right policies and investments, and implementing the right supports to empower our sector to continue doing what we do best: anticipating future needs, and delivering accessible, adaptable, and sustainable training, education, and applied research solutions across the country to meet Canada’s biggest challenges.

In everything we do, we bring our members together to share knowledge, drive innovation, align efforts to drive bold, lasting impact, and Election 2025 is a pivotal – and consequential – moment.

  • That’s the rationale behind our inaugural Leaders Summit, taking place next week. We’re bringing sector leaders – and partners – together at a critical moment for our country.

This national dialogue will ensure our institutions are ready to collaborate with whoever forms government – thinking proactively and strategically about what Canadians need from us, and how we can build coalitions of the willing and meet the moment together. 

Canada’s Challenges, Our Solutions

Supporting Team Canada – building, training, growing, making, and powering the jobs and solutions that drive this country – and public colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics go hand in hand. We are responsive, adaptable, deeply embedded in communities and working directly with employers in every part of the country.

Canada’s major parties have started outlining their election platform and promises, and nearly every key election issue connects to our work and the very challenges we help solve every day.

That’s why investing in our institutions is essential for lasting, meaningful impact. 

On Building and Making Things at Home

  • Construction and Homebuilding: There are currently close to 65,000 students training at colleges and institutes to become our future construction workers and engineering technicians, building better homes faster. Plus, they also offer over 300 pre-apprenticeship programs that train skilled construction workers Canada urgently needs. 
  • Food Supply: Colleges and institutes offer 164 agricultural programs – including crop sciences, farm management, and greenhouse technologies – that train workers and business owners to grow food for Canadians.  
  • Plus, through nearly 3,000 applied research projects, our sector works with Canada’s manufacturers and producers to improve the way we make and grow stuff in Canada, for Canadians. 878 of these projects were specifically tied to supporting Canada’s natural resource sector and agricultural sectors. 
  • Healthcare and Social Services: Close to 100,000 students are trained through over 1,100 college and institute programs in healthcare, including close to 300 nursing programs. With shifting demographics and an aging population, college and institute-led innovation in seniors’ care and social innovation is more important than ever.  
  • Defence and Public Safety: Colleges and institutes also play a crucial role in offering certified training for high-demand occupations within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and supporting veterans, reservists and their families transitioning to civilian careers.  And, close to 22,000 students are trained in security and protective services, including 14,901 in criminal justice and corrections. 

On Global Trade and the Economy

  • Supply Chains: Colleges and institutes keep Canada’s supply chains moving with over 1,500 manufacturing-related programs. We train the skilled workers—technicians, engineers, and specialists—who design, build, and maintain the systems that manufacture and move the goods that Canadians rely on every day.  
  • Transportation: From aerospace and automotive manufacturing to rail and trucking logistics, our job-ready graduates are essential to keeping supply chains efficient, smart, and resilient – and helping Canadian businesses get their products to market.  
  • Global Partnerships: Our sector builds capacity, shares best practices, and delivers consistent, high-quality training that connects Canadian employment-based education with the world. This work positions us as a leader in skills and workforce development, innovation, and sustainable development. As global markets shift, leveraging all of our assets and networks abroad will be key in market diversification.

On Productivity and Competitiveness

  • Resilient and Efficient Industry: With nearly 700 research labs across Canada, colleges and institutes partner with Canadian industries (especially SMEs) to develop innovative, made-in-Canada solutions.  
  • As tariffs impact business operations, college and institute applied research centres also help businesses pivot to new markets and source alternative components – and provide market analysis that ensures business can continue to provide the essential products and services Canadians depend on. 
  • Derisking Technology Adoption: These collaborations – with a focus on derisking new product, process and prototype development – give Canadian manufacturers a competitive edge, boost productivity, enhance automation, and help businesses navigate market shifts, emerging technologies, and regulatory changes.  
  • Digital Skills: As innovators, our institutions are always looking forward and central to building Canada’s digital infrastructure. We provide accessible and cutting-edge training and relevant industry-ready skills for the digital economy, while leveraging AI tools to transform programs to meet Canada’s digital imperative. 
  • Energy Production and Transformation: To meet Canada’s energy objectives, colleges and institutes lead in skills training to drive Canada’s energy transformation and grow our capacity in alternative energies like nuclear, solar, wind, and hydro, and to support existing industries to get energy to market. Federal investment in our institutions drives energy transformation while balancing economic growth with environmental responsibility. 
  • Natural Resources: We lead in skills training, research, and sustainable solutions in high-demand sectors like mining and critical mineral extraction and processing to support growing industries like semi-conductors and EV production.  

Ready to Support Team Canada

While the future is uncertain, CICan and its members are committed partners on Team Canada. As Canada’s most accessible public training network, we are Canadians’ safety net, ready to collaborate and support the priorities shaping Canada’s future.

This election is a key moment for Canada — and we’re here to meet it.

Read more

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January 21, 2025

Future-Focused Leadership for a Changing Canada

Canada’s public post-secondary sector stands at a pivotal crossroads where significant challenges meet promising opportunities. Rapid policy changes, shifting workforce demands, technological advancements, and the uncertainty of an approaching federal election have created a complex landscape that demands bold, innovative, and forward-thinking leadership.

This is a defining moment—not just for the future of our post-secondary system, but for Canada itself.

Public colleges and institutes play a crucial role in addressing Canada’s biggest challenges, from housing and healthcare to sustainability and workforce productivity. They train the builders, caregivers, innovators, and first responders who form the backbone of our communities and economy. Their success is Canada’s success. 

Introducing the Futures Forum

To support colleges and institutes tackle sector-wide challenges and meet Canada’s evolving needs, CICan is proud to launch the Futures Forum. This new, dynamic concept places transformational leadership at the forefront, connecting decision-makers with powerful insights, cutting-edge analysis, and collaborative opportunities to turn bold ideas into actionable solutions.

Through events like the biennial Leaders Summit and monthly Presidents Circle, the Futures Forum ensures colleges and institutes stay agile, responsive, and primed to lead Canada into a thriving future.

Together, our network of forward-thinking leaders and institutions is shaping what’s to come and driving lasting, positive change for all Canadians.