Representing colleges and institutes on national committees

On top of engaging directly with politicians and policymakers, we have also worked to bring a college voice to several committees this year, including the Future Skills Council, the Canadian Council for Youth Prosperity and the National Stakeholder Advisory Panel of the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC). We also worked with the Canadian Chamber of … Continued

Engaging the public

CICan’s advocacy efforts were supported by a variety of communication activities targeting national and regional media. Over the year, we published op-eds, provided interviews and were featured in media such as the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Canadian Press, Maclean’s, the Hill Times, the PIE News, Study Travel Magazine, and Le Droit. We … Continued

Advocating for international education

The relatively quick response from IRCC following the lockdown shows the positive relationship we have been able to build through our continued work regarding international recruitment and student permit processing. We were especially satisfied to see the expansion of the Student Direct Stream this past year in Pakistan, Morocco and Senegal. These last two are … Continued

Adjusting our priorities in a time of crisis

This was far from an ordinary year, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing us to reevaluate our advocacy priorities and respond to emerging challenges late in the fiscal year. Our main priorities were initially shared in August, when we set out seven recommendations as part of our submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee of … Continued

Engaging with decision-makers

The transition to a Liberal minority government saw many changes in senior portfolios, with new ministers coming in and critical staff moving around. This kept our government relations team busy for most of the year, meeting with a variety of decision-makers to explain the role of our sector and ensure our priorities were well understood. … Continued

Empowering colleges and institutes during Election 2019

As an election year, 2019 saw our organization and our members mobilize to ensure the priorities of colleges and institutes were clear to candidates of all political parties, both locally and at the national level. Our efforts included the creation of an election 2019 webpage and resources, including fact sheets and shareables to be used … Continued

Advocate

CICan is proud to be the national voice of Canada’s colleges and institutes and has worked tirelessly over the past year to ensure their priorities are heard and understood by Canadians and key decision makers.