In a year of organizational transformation, sector disruption, and collective resilience, the report reflects on and celebrates our work with and for our members – convening, connecting, and championing Canada’s dynamic network of public colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics to meet our country’s – and the world’s – biggest challenges.
We’re humbled by the resolve of our members to evolve and meet the moment despite severe headwinds over 2024. CICan has taken tremendous strides this past year to be more nimble, strategic, and fit-for-purpose to meet them where they are at, and more importantly, where they are going.
Driven by our Roadmap to 2026 and its five Impact Goals, CICan ensures our members are well positioned to support Canadians – actively listening to and engaging institutional leaders, emphasizing shared purpose and unity in diversity, making the case for impactful investment, and taking sector-wide action with key partners.
Still, this is a new and consequential chapter for Canada and our sector – and Canadians will rightly be asking even more of us. Present in every corner of this country, we are core partners in building a strong, sovereign, and resilient Canada.
As a sector, we work directly with employers to train the builders, the makers, the growers, the first responders and the caregivers that make Canada – and the world – work. Our members ensure Canada has a skilled workforce to meet our housing and healthcare demand and to thrive through transitions in our resource-intensive and digital industries. We make Canadian businesses more innovative, resilient, and productive to drive prosperity within communities and regions. And our training and innovation expertise is an asset to be leveraged outside our borders – our global footprint and industry networks abroad can help Canada enter new markets with new partners.
As our national association, CICan is committed to bringing us together as sector leaders to ask the bold questions – and take the bold actions – that will take Canada where it needs to go. We are committed to thinking proactively about what Canadians need from us, and strategically engaging governments, industry, postsecondary, and other partners to make it happen. We are committed to meeting the moment.
As we acknowledge the challenges and celebrate the achievements of the past year, we are reminded that now is the time for Canada’s colleges and institutes. We are here to help our country build big with boldness, imagination, and resolve.
President & CEO
Board Chair
Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) is the national voice of Canada’s dynamic network of public colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics. By convening, connecting and championing the sector, we amplify the value and impact of our members to advance priorities that matter most to Canadians – including good jobs and a place to live, healthy communities, a thriving economy and a solid and stable future for their children. In doing so, we position colleges and institutes as key partners in meeting Canada’s – and the world’s – biggest challenges.
In 2024-25, CICan worked strategically – and in tight alignment with our provincial and regional college association network and with industry – to position our members as the front-line solution providers to Canada’s biggest challenges. We championed their role as builders, makers, growers, caregivers, first responders, and innovators ready to meet the moment and deliver on the things that matter most to Canadians.
In a year marked by disruption and uncertainty, CICan set ambitious yet focused goals, anchored by our new Roadmap to 2026. We consistently engaged members to harness insights, amplify expertise, and unite the sector’s voice around shared priorities.
Through dynamic policy dialogue, innovative program development, and strategic partnerships, we made the case for a stronger, more resilient Canada – one with colleges and institutes at its core.
Our work over the past year was aligned under three strategic priorities:
Through our Roadmap to 2026, we introduced Impact Goals as the focal point of our strategic direction – designed not as broad aspirations, but as deliberate, measurable responses to the most urgent challenges facing Canada and our members.
By March 2026, CICan committed to increasing federal funding for college applied research and innovation initiatives.
In 2024–25, CICan responded to growing labour market pressures, including economic uncertainty, demographic shifts, and rapid technological change, by actively promoting the value of college and institute training and education.
CICan’s work this year focused on deepening international partnerships, creating new pathways for member institutions to engage globally, and aligning skills development with Canada’s international priorities.
This year marked a decade since the launch of CICan’s Indigenous Education Protocol – an important milestone and a timely moment for reflection, renewal, and action.
CICan supports climate action by connecting member institutions, showcasing their leadership, and helping secure national investments in campus-based sustainability.
By March 2026, CICan committed to increasing federal funding for college applied research and innovation initiatives.
In 2024–25, CICan responded to growing labour market pressures, including economic uncertainty, demographic shifts, and rapid technological change, by actively promoting the value of college and institute training and education.
CICan’s work this year focused on deepening international partnerships, creating new pathways for member institutions to engage globally, and aligning skills development with Canada’s international priorities.
This year marked a decade since the launch of CICan’s Indigenous Education Protocol – an important milestone and a timely moment for reflection, renewal, and action.
CICan supports climate action by connecting member institutions, showcasing their leadership, and helping secure national investments in campus-based sustainability.
Positioning the sector as a key enabler of Canada’s “Build Big” agenda - from housing and trade infrastructure to energy production and transition and national defense to sustainable immigration.
Deepening strategic partnerships with industry and sector associations to co-create national solutions to shared workforce and industrial strategies for a strong and resilient Canada.
Strengthening CICan’s role as a national convener and connector - fostering greater cooperation and alignment across the postsecondary system in service of better learner, community, industry and national outcomes.
Advancing reconciliation through new Indigenous-led program design, partnership development and capacity building initiatives and deepening CICan’s own learning journey as an organization.
Building out our vision for the CICan Academy for College Leadership: in a complex and changing external landscape, strong and agile postsecondary leadership matters and our job will be to better support our members in succession planning and growth.
Shaping a new narrative for the sector that reflects its nation-building role and impact in driving economic growth, productivity, and community resilience.
