CICan has long understood the strength of collaboration and that effective advocacy often requires a collective voice. Over the past year, we leveraged several opportunities to create a stronger, more influential voice.
In fall 2022, after a two-year pause, we hosted our flagship “CICan on the Hill” advocacy event. The event focused on sharing perspectives around how colleges and institutes address skills and labour shortages, advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and support the transition to a net zero economy. It brought together several presidents from our member institutions and over 60 staff and 30 students. In total, CICan facilitated over 35 meetings, including with five Deputy Ministers and across key departments and federal research agencies, including Indigenous Services, Employment and Social Development Canada; Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; Natural Resources Canada; Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Towards the end of the year, we stood up for educational rights in copyright law by launching the Fair Dealing Works campaign in partnership with Universities Canada, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, the Canadian Federation of Students, the Canadian Association of University Teachers and the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic. The campaign urges the government to maintain educational fair dealing provisions in the Copyright Act, highlighting the current balance that fair dealing helps to maintain between creators and users of educational materials.
And when we were not driving the conversations, we were invited to engage in others. As an emerging practitioner within the sustainable finance ecosystem, CICan was invited to join the Government of Canada’s Sustainable Finance Forum to discuss accelerating the transition to environmentally sustainable economies through catalyzing public and private investment capital.