Education and Leadership Development

We are investing in initiatives and programs to empower and equip caregivers and care providers with the essential skills and knowledge they need.

By nurturing leaders in the caregiving space, we hope to pave the way for improved quality of care and support for all those who give and receive care.

For Caregivers

Caregiver Grief Connexion

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 Dr. Pam Orzeck and Zelda Freitas of the McGill School of Social Work in creating Caregiver Grief Connexion. This bereavement support virtual training 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 centre 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.).

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 is collaborating with Patrick Durivage of the Centre for Research and Expertise in Social Gerontology and 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.

For Care Providers

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 fosters 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 offered two virtual Canadian Leadership Institutes in 2023 and 2024 for 80 current and emerging disability service sector care provider leaders from all Canadian provinces and territories. The curriculum was co-designed with agencies and provincial networks from across the country.



The institutes focused 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 included 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.