return to map

Colleges and Institutes Canada
Collèges et instituts Canada (CICan)

UNEVOC Centre (National Body) since 2012

Colleges and Institutes Canada is the national, voluntary membership organization representing colleges and institutes in Canada and internationally. Colleges and Institutes Canada is the home of the pan-Canadian UNEVOC centre and is the voice of Canada’s 137 public post-secondary institutes of applied learning and applied research. Colleges and Institutes Canada is also a member, and the current chair, of the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics (WFCP).

Colleges and Institutes Canada's Secretariat in Ottawa represents 135 members with the federal government and industry and is ISO certified. It also organizes conferences and workshops for college staff, students and board members to facilitate networking and participation in national and international programs, services and awards.

Mission

Colleges and Institutes Canada will champion and support the learning provided by member institutions.

Objectives

Colleges and Institutes Canada will be the most respected voice in post-secondary education

Strategic Goals:

Colleges and Institutes Canada will

• Advocate for Members

• Promote the excellence of members as the prime providers of advanced skills and applied research for social and economic development.

• Optimize relationships with the federal government.

• Develop an advocacy plan in consultation with members and their regional associations to influence policy and seek resources.

• Mobilize members around shared objectives.

• Foster national and international partnerships to benefit members.

Colleges and Institutes Canada will

• Engage and Support Members

• Be a catalyst for innovation and collaboration to enhance the success of members and their students.

• Recognize and serve the diversity of member institutions (metropolitan, rural, anglophone, francophone, aboriginal, polytechnic, institute, college, cégep, university college and baccalaureate) by organizing forums to define common interests and strategies.

• Convene members around exemplary practices.

• Showcase and share members' innovative capacities and achievements.

• Respond to the diversity of members by recognizing and supporting their unique realities.

• Facilitate accessible pathways for students to pursue studies domestically and internationally, and promote enhanced credential recognition.

• Expand opportunities for members to connect faculty, staff and students with national and international communities.

• Strengthen member capacity through national and international partnerships.

Regular tasks

The International Partnerships Division, with over 700 projects in 105 countries over the past 30 years, affords opportunities for colleges and institutes to establish institutional linkages, to offer students learning opportunities aboard, to recruit foreign students, and to build the capacity of sister institutions in developing countries. Members are engaged through the policy, design, implementation and evaluation stages.

With private and public sector partners, the Canadian Partnerships Division designs and initiatives to support the advanced skills agenda. It engages members in collaboration with employer organizations on entrepreneurship development, advancing the economic integration of newcomers and facilitating innovation in learning.

The International Partnerships Division is also responsible for supporting members to send students abroad in the recently announced Canadian government, Outbound Student Mobility project. The Association, through its members will endeavor to send in excess of 4700 to study abroad over a 4-year period beginning in 2020.

The Public Affairs Division is responsible for advocacy, communications, media relations and leadership development. It showcases member expertise through awards of excellence, the annual conference, symposia and publications and sustains engagement in areas of common interest including rural, remote and northern colleges, metropolitan colleges, aboriginal learners, immigrants and applied research. The division liaises with federal officials, stakeholders and sister organizations.

Focus and interest