Professional Development & Education

Canadian Leadership Institute for Developmental Services

Building strong leadership capacity in the Canadian developmental services sector is critical to the success of the caregiving field and to the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families. It is estimated that 70% of leaders in the developmental services sector will retire in the next decade. Care providers across Canada are in need of learning opportunities to develop new skills and deepen competencies.

We are investing in a rising wave of care provider leadership through critical professional development. In partnership with the National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities and Inclusion Canada, the Canadian Leadership Institute for Developmental Services will foster a collaborative base of Canadian leaders dedicated to a shared vision of sustainable, person-directed and inclusive service systems for people with disabilities and their families.

We are offering two virtual Canadian Leadership Institutes in 2023 and 2024 for 70 current and emerging disability service sector care provider leaders from all Canadian provinces and territories. The curriculum has been co-designed with agencies and provincial networks from across the country.

The institutes will focus on issues and opportunities specific to Canadian disability service sector leaders, such as improving services in rural regions and supporting First Nations communities.

Faculty members include Canada and U.S.-based experts in:

• Best practices in service delivery
• Core competencies in disability support work
• Workforce sustainability, management and leadership
• Advocacy for and with people with disabilities
• Policy development
• Organizational change management

Ongoing support and resources will continue to be offered to participants over time to ensure continued learning and growth. This includes:

• Inclusion in an online community of practice that already includes over 3,000 alumni and faculty from the Leadership Institute for Developmental Disabilities
• Access to quarterly Canadian-focused learning sessions
• Invitation to an annual conference with Canadian and American leadership institute alumni. 

The 2024 Leadership Institute for Developmental Disabilities will take place between January 11 and February 1, 2024. Eligible applicants are invited to submit their applications to the National Leadership Consortium of Developmental Disabilities before November 30.

About the National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities

The National Leadership Consortium was founded in 2006 to develop the current and next generation of disability sector leaders — so that they have the knowledge, skills, and values needed to transform services and systems to be responsive to the needs, wants, and rights of people with disabilities. A partnership of 18 national disability organizations. The National Leadership Consortium is the first U.S. organization solely dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness of disability sector leaders.

For more than a decade, the National Leadership Consortium has supported the development of disability service sector leaders through in-person and virtual leadership networking, training, and development opportunities, as well as field related research and evaluation projects. All activities, programs, and projects focus on best practices and innovation in disability services and leadership.

The National Leadership Consortium is an affiliate of the Council on Quality and Leadership. Founded in 1969, the Council on Quality and Leadership is a leader in working with human service organizations and systems to continuously define, measure, and improve quality of life and quality of services for youth, adults, and older adults with disabilities.

Bereavement Support Virtual Training Centre

When a caregiving journey ends with the death of a loved one, the caregiver may enter a challenging period of grief and stress. Even though most of us will give care at some point in our lives, our health systems are not equipped to provide support to caregivers during this difficult post-care period.

To address the gap in care for bereaved caregivers, CCCE is supporting Pam Orzeck and Zelda Freitas of the McGill School of Social Work in creating a bereavement support virtual training centre. This centre will help health care professionals provide appropriate care and resources for caregivers who are in the period of bereavement.

Once completed, the virtual training center will include several opportunities and materials for health care professionals, including:

• A guide for professionals to offer individual caregiver bereavement support
• A model for running caregiver bereavement support groups
• A model for caregiver bereavement counselling
• A model for a telephone outreach support program
• A bereavement tool kit for family members and personal support workers – translated into multiple languages (Tagalog, Mandarin, etc.)

In addition to the above, Communities of Practice will also be created to offer clinical supervision and peer support to professionals, including a training for group leaders to create these communities.

The team at McGill School of Social Work will collaborate with Patrick Durivage of the Centre for Research and Expertise in Social Gerontology and with several agencies from across the country to develop and execute the virtual training center. Additional partners include, Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Ile-de-Montreal, Community Health and Social Services Network,  Victoria Hospice, Pallium Canada,  Canadian Virtual Hospice.