What’s on My Mind? With Pari Johnston.
I joined CICan a year ago this week. Since then, our sector has been turned on its head in more ways than one. Still, what I’ve learned in my first 12 months on the job is that – more than ever – the work we do matters. A lot.
In my first year, I’ve had the opportunity to visit over 40 CICan members in 9 provinces: Vancouver Community College, Lakeland College in Lloydminster, Suncrest College in Yorkton, Assiniboine College in Brandon, Fanshawe College in London, Collège Ahuntsic in Montréal, Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick in Moncton and Holland College in Charlottetown, to name just a few.
During my visits, I toured cutting-edge aviation, biomanufacturing and agriculture training and research facilities; tried my hand (badly) at virtual simulations to fix a tire on an EV and administer a needle for dental work; drove a firetruck and filmed a scene in an animation studio; dined at student-run bistros; met dedicated staff, faculty, and students from all over the world; marvelled at the top-line jewellery, fashion and high end ceramics made by talented graduates; and witnessed the prototypes created for local companies to solve their business problems and help them scale their operations. In short, I discovered firsthand how CICan’s 134 members are community – and nation-builders.
Read back through my LinkedIn posts from my visits and you’ll notice a theme – bold, pioneering, passionate, unrivalled dynamism and responsiveness.
Even through the challenging context of the past year, I’m struck by the vitality of your campuses, by how deeply rooted your institutions are in your communities, and by just how much Canadians – from all walks of life—rely on publicly funded colleges and institutes to realize new opportunities.
Colleges and institutes train the builders, growers, makers, caregivers, first responders, innovators and job creators that Canadians depend on. As a sector, what we do ensures we have a skilled workforce to meet housing and healthcare demands, ensures workers are equipped to thrive in green and digital industries, and makes Canada’s small businesses more innovative, efficient, and productive.
But more so, your institutions build communities. And by building communities, we build a country.
Being out on the road this past year brought to life for me that nearly every Canadian lives within 50 km of a CICan member campus. The way we reach Canadians as a sector – in rural, remote, Northern, and urban areas – is unmatched and a true Canadian asset.
We’re facing challenges both as a sector and as a country.
Canadians can expect a lot of change in the coming months. Globally, geopolitical winds are changing, industries and supply chains are being redefined, populations are aging, and technologies like AI are accelerating the pace of change and shifting where business is done.
At home, in view of a federal election, it’s clear that colleges and institutes can and must focus on the things Canada needs most: housing, healthcare, innovative resource development, food security, strong domestic manufacturing capacity and thriving local businesses to drive long-term competitiveness and productivity.
Looking forward, CICan is ready to evolve.
What I’ve heard during my visits – about your aspirations, your needs, and your challenges – are the key drivers of CICan’s evolving strategic directions.
We’ll be starting work in 2025 to continue to define with members, our Board, CICan staff, and our partners the “CICan of the Future.” A vision characterized by intensified focus on leadership development, convening and supporting college leaders in institutional and system transformation to continue to meet the needs of Canadians and address Canada’s biggest challenges.
Leadership matters more than ever.
Our network prepares nearly 800,000 learners in urban, rural, remote, and northern communities with more than 10,000 programs across all sectors, conducts more than 8,000 applied research projects annually, and adds over $190 billion to Canada’s economy each year.
We are agile, responsive, resilient, and we deliver results for Canadians.
But there is still collective work to do to refresh and renew the public value narrative of what we deliver. We need to continue the on-the-ground mobilization with partners that has been generated in the past few months to build robust coalitions and a strong public postsecondary system working with industry, communities, universities, mayors and labour unions.
We’ll need your continued support to ensure decision makers recognize the opportunities offered by colleges and institutes to be leaders in meeting Canada’s – and their communities’ – biggest challenges
It is our time – we are the partners Canada needs.