Ottawa, September 9, 2021 – Competency-based education and training is at the heart of the Canadian system of colleges and institutes, and one of its greatest strengths. Over the last 40-years, these institutions have refined the Competency Based Approach (CBA), and many are now successfully applying it around the world. To help share that expertise, Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) is launching a comprehensive framework for implementing an approach to support competency-based education and training.
This extensive guide offers valuable lessons from Canadian colleges and institutes, while sharing best-practices, which will be especially useful for international counterparts looking to use the CBA to meet the needs of their own students. As such, this reference framework is designed as a tool to help educators adapt their own practices.
This work builds not only on the expertise of Canadian colleges and institutes, but on their long history of international collaboration with partner institutions and employers, including through CICan’s many Education for Employment programs.
“For decades, CICan and its members have supported partners all around the world by exporting knowledge and expertise in technical and vocational education and training. Over the years, we have sought to refine our approach by applying the lessons learned from our experiences”, notes CICan president and CEO, Denise Amyot. “Our objective has always been to put the partner in the driver’s seat, employing the fundamentals of the competency-based approach while adapting it to their specific context. We hope that this new publication will be useful resource for those partners, and all those looking to better understand competency-based education and training.”
Development of the framework was led by Sonia Michaud from Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (NB), Benoit Lanciault from Cégep Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (Québec) and the International Centre from Humber College (Ontario).
About Colleges and Institutes Canada:
Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) is the voice of Canada’s publicly-supported colleges, institutes, cegeps and polytechnics, and an international leader in education for employment with ongoing programs in over 25 countries. CICan’s members add over $190B to Canada’s economy each year and contribute to inclusive economic growth by working with industry and community partners to offer more than 10,000 programs to learners in urban, rural, remote, and northern communities.
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For more information:
Julien Abord-Babin
Senior Strategic Communications Officer
Colleges and Institutes Canada
Email: jabord-babin@collegesinstitutes.ca
Phone: 613-746-2222 ext. 3131
Twitter: @CollegeCan