What’s On My Mind? With Pari Johnston.
In a year marked by change, we have a lot to be proud of.
I’m happy to share some reflections on our achievements, on our challenges, and on way forward as a united sector.
Since my arrival in December, I’ve made it a top priority to get out on your campuses to listen deeply and to learn with curiosity. In my first six months, I’ve had the opportunity to visit 30 member institutions in seven provinces and join several provincial college association meetings.
To say I’ve been blown away by the dynamism, diversity, and community-driven spirit of your campuses is an understatement. Getting on more campuses will continue to be a top priority for me this year and next.
What I’ve heard about your aspirations, your needs, and your challenges are the key drivers of CICan’s evolving strategic directions.
I’ve been listening hard – and I hear you. Your priorities are guiding our advocacy, your needs are guiding our services, and your impact is guiding our message.
- We are focusing our advocacy agenda on Canada’s big challenges and elevating our voice in national public policy conversations that matter to Canadians.
- We are modernizing our approach to member services to create more touchpoints more frequently, with a stronger focus on convening college presidents on shared issues affecting institutional strategy and sustainability.
- We are bringing our national and international programs together with a greater focus on benefits for members, collaboration, and capacity-building guiding our choices and our work.
I’m fully convinced that the time is now – and the future is bright – for Canada’s colleges and institutes.
I’m excited about the opportunity to continue growing our impact and to position CICan’s work in a way that best serves you and ensures that our members are positioned to support Canadians.
That’s not to say there haven’t been significant pressures. CICan is keeping our eye on the ball and laser focused on promoting members’ interests in these very disruptive times – especially unprecedented reforms to Canada’s international student program as part of the federal government’s plan to better manage overall immigration levels by reducing temporary resident numbers. And as always, we are pro-actively working to keep our members engaged and well-informed.
As we look ahead, I fundamentally believe that the value of the college and institute sector is in asking ourselves what problems we’re solving for Canadians.
When we think purposefully about the connections between what we teach and research and what we need in our country and our communities, colleges and institutes become natural partners in meeting Canada’s biggest public policy challenges – challenges like providing sustainable and affordable housing, transitioning to clean energies, responding to the care economy and driving productivity and industrial transformation.
As a sector, what you do ensures we have a skilled workforce to meet housing demand, ensures workers are equipped to thrive in green and digital industries, and makes businesses more innovative, efficient, and productive.
CICan understands – and promotes – that impact wholeheartedly.
We’re proud to be the national leader bringing the sector together in this way, and we continue to advocate with a strong, coordinated voice for our shared interests.
Our work is making it clear to leaders, to decision makers, and to Canadians that colleges and institutes are high value ecosystem partners with a unique and differentiated value proposition.
You are the educators, the innovators, the job creators, the makers, the builders and the growers.
You are the ones driving real-world impact on matters Canadians care about every day.
In the context of these big policy challenges, we can reflect on what we’ve accomplished in the past year through our programs.
- To name a few, on Canada’s housing crisis and in the healthcare sector, our work brought together colleges and institutes from across the country to build a skilled workforce and address acute labour shortages. And, in climate action, our work has supported green skills and literacy, helped businesses and community organizations lower their carbon footprints, and improved planning for sustainability in Canada.
We should be all very proud of the incredible achievements highlighted in our 2023-24 Impact Report – both as members participating in CICan’s projects and as a sector.
As our work continues to evolve to focus on the things Canada needs most, my priority is on greater integration to maximize impact.