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Western Canada Career Development Conference 2026
Shifting Landscapes
Bold Conversations in Career Development
WCCDA is excited to invite proposals for our 2026 Career Development Conference, a vibrant gathering of career professionals, educators, leaders, and community stakeholders from across Western Canada. As our profession continues to evolve in the face of rapid social, economic, and technological change, this conference will offer space for deep dialogue, collaboration, learning, and community building.
OUR MEMBERS
Our membership is comprised of professionals across the spectrum of career and employment practices and services in BC. These include professionals in employment, rehabilitation, career advisory, human resource management, settlement, and related fields, who work in a wide range of environments including (but not limited to) government-funded employment programs, non-profit and other community agencies, private career and employment service companies, employers, outplacement and career transitions services, independent/self-employed practitioners, public secondary and post-secondary schools, colleges, universities, and private training colleges.
CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
This year’s theme, 'Shifting Landscapes: Bold Conversations in Career Development,' reflects our members’ growing desire for dialogue around real-world tensions, evolving values, and practitioner well-being—while remaining deeply committed to effective, ethical service to clients.
We are especially looking for proposals that are interactive, panel-based, case-driven, or workshop-style—and those that reflect equity, ethics, and inclusion.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
We welcome presentations, panels, workshops, and interactive sessions that explore the changing landscape of career development from a variety of lenses—practical, theoretical, experiential, and strategic. This is your opportunity to bring forth bold conversations that matter to our field.
We encourage proposals that are:
Rooted in practice or evidence
Clearly aligned with career development theory and/or frameworks
Focused on specific tools, strategies, or actionable insights
Reflective of ethics, inclusion, and practitioner care
Suitable for a range of experience levels in the field
TOPICS OF HIGH INTEREST
Our WCCDA community has expressed particular interest in the following themes:
Inclusion, Accessibility, and Practitioner Wellness
Neurodiversity at work: meaningful accommodations and inclusion strategies
Trauma-informed approaches in career development
Supporting practitioner mental health and values-alignment in ethically grey work environments
Navigating stress and burnout in high-pressure or outcome-driven workplaces
Theory-to-Practice Applications
Applying career development theories with real clients
Exploring the Career Ecosystem Model in practice
Strategies for using Skills for Success tools in client settings
Ethics, Labour Market & The Future of Work
CDP ethics and best practices in the age of AI and automation
Navigating semi-unethical practices in service delivery or funder-driven models
Building pathways for career development professionals themselves (networking, job opportunities, upskilling)
Current, relevant labour market research and how to use it effectively
Leadership, Equity & Professional Growth
Indigenous perspectives in career development
Case study-based learning
Professional pathways and leadership in the CDP field
*Please note, We are looking for robust, clearly developed proposals focused on tangible outcomes, best practices, or innovative applications. While personal reflections and inspiration are welcome, proposals must go beyond general soft skills or motivational topics.
Instructions for Submissions
Proposals must be received by Friday, October 24th, 2025. Applications will not be accepted after the deadline.
A confirmation of receipt of the proposal will be sent to the email address of the contact person listed on the application form.
This call is to seek proposals for virtual workshops. All workshops for the virtual conference will be approx 90 minutes including Q &A.
All speakers must present live and be available to be scheduled from April 28 to May 28, 2026, for the virtual conference.
Workshops will be recorded to provide access to people who cannot attend a live session. For this reason, openness to being recorded will be considered when reviewing and selecting proposals.
For submissions with more than one presenter, all communication will be sent to the main contact person identified on the proposal (usually the person who submits the proposal).
By submitting a presentation proposal, it is understood that the presenter(s) agree to be part of an evaluation process that asks conference participants to evaluate each session they attend.
The Program Committee reserves the right to make final presentation selections. Presenters will be notified of final acceptance and regrets via e-mail to the main contact person.
By submitting a presentation proposal, it is understood that the presenter(s) agree(s) to present and to participate as proposed, if accepted, and recorded if applicable.
Write an accurate program description, as you want it to appear in the final program. Once a submission is received and reviewed, the description can’t be changed significantly.
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