Practical Advocacy: Shaping a More Equitable and Sustainable Canada

– By Sharon Graham, Founder and Chair of Career Professionals of Canada –

In an age of rapid technological disruption, rising inequality, and growing calls for justice in the workplace, members of Career Professionals of Canada are more essential than ever. Our services can either reinforce outdated practices or help build a future where everyone can thrive.

This isn’t just about being optimistic. It’s about being strategic, intentional, and values-driven. Through advocacy and tools, we can support both people and progress. We can integrate four guiding tenets into our everyday actions: inclusion, resilience, kindness, and justice. In doing so, we strengthen individual careers and contribute to a more sustainable and equitable economy.

Advocacy: What Is Advocacy and Why Does It Matter in Career Development?

Advocacy is the act of speaking up, standing up, or taking action to support a cause, a group, or a principle. In our profession, that might mean championing fair hiring practices, pushing for accessible training programs, or helping a client find their voice in the workplace. It could be as simple as educating an employer about inclusive interview techniques or as far-reaching as contributing to a national policy consultation on employment equity.

Some career professionals think advocacy is only for politicians, lawyers, or activists. But in truth, advocacy is what we do every day. We just may not label it that way. Every time we help a newcomer challenge bias about their credentials, encourage a client to ask for fair pay, or question an outdated policy in our own organization, we are advocating for a better, more equitable world of work.

Inclusion: Champion Fairness and Representation in the Labour Market

Despite Canada’s commitment to multiculturalism and social equity, we’re facing increasing disparities. The top 1% of Canadians control about a quarter of our country’s wealth and low-income individuals are falling even further behind. Newcomers, Indigenous professionals, people with disabilities, and racialized communities face systemic barriers in hiring and advancement.

Career professionals have a direct role to play in closing these gaps. By championing inclusion at every stage, from client intake and résumé development to interview prep and employer outreach, we create real impact. In doing so, we help build a more just and representative workforce.

Deliberate Steps for Fairness and Inclusion:

• Use validated tools to assess credentials. Refer clients and employers to the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials (CICIC) to help evaluate international education and experience more fairly.
• Support employer participation in the 50–30 Challenge. Encourage hiring teams to align with the federal 50–30 Challenge, which promotes inclusive representation in leadership. Help clients identify and approach employers committed to equity.
• Audit your own materials and practices. Are your résumé templates inclusive? Do your workshops reflect diverse perspectives? Make space for accessibility, cultural context, and lived experience.
• Promote fair-pay resources. Share tools like Glassdoor Canada or provincial salary guides to help clients understand fair compensation and advocate for themselves.
• Normalize conversations around bias. Use real-life scenarios to coach clients on how to respond to coded language in interviews or job descriptions that subtly control access to opportunities.

Resilience: Equip Clients for a Rapidly Changing World

The pace of change is accelerating. While average weekly earnings grew by only about 4%, rents in many Canadian cities rose by more than twice that amount. Climate shocks like floods and wildfires already cost Canada an estimated $25 billion per year in lost productivity. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023, 44% of workers’ core skills are expected to shift by 2027. AI is transforming hiring while reskilling efforts struggle to keep pace.

Career professionals are the bridge between disruption and opportunity. Our role is not only to help people get work but to help them remain relevant, adaptable, and fulfilled. By guiding clients through change and advocating for accessible retraining, we ensure no one is left behind.

Practical Strategies to Future-Proof Your Clients:

• Identify transferable skills. Help clients reframe their existing experience for emerging industries. Use tools like the Competency Framework for Career Development Professionals to uncover overlooked strengths.
• Focus on future-facing sectors. Direct clients toward clean tech, climate adaptation, digital transformation, and care-based careers. Use resources like Electricity Human Resources Canada and CleanBC to explore real opportunities.
• Build tech fluency ethically. Coach clients to use AI responsibly. Tools like résumé builders, labour market data apps, and digital portfolios can be powerful, but must be used with intention and awareness of bias. Emphasize human follow-up alongside automated processes.
• Encourage lifelong learning. Introduce clients to micro-credential platforms, local retraining subsidies, or sector councils. Advocate for government funding that supports older workers, caregivers, and low-income learners.
• Navigate disruption with emotional intelligence. Include mindset tools to help clients manage stress, build confidence, and stay open to change. Emotional resilience is a key skill for navigating an uncertain future.

Kindness: Modernize Systems with Empathy and Intention

Many workplace systems still reflect outdated norms such as rigid schedules, unpaid internships, and narrow definitions of success. At the same time, jobseekers bring human emotions into the process including fear, shame, hope, impostor syndrome, and burnout.

Kindness isn’t about being “soft.” It’s about being strategic, intentional, and empathetic. Career professionals can challenge outdated norms while supporting the emotional wellbeing of clients. When we build practices that honour both people and progress, we create systems that foster trust.

Tactical Tools for Systemic and Human Change:

• Start intake with deeper questions. Ask: “What’s one workplace injustice you’ve experienced and what would you change if you could?” This invites clients to voice both emotion and insight.
• Embed inclusion and empathy in every interaction. During interview prep, highlight emotional awareness. During résumé reviews, talk about confidence and values, not just formatting.
• Reframe “red flags.” Gaps in employment, career changes, or credential mismatches can all signal self-awareness and growth. Help clients own and articulate their stories.
• Share micro-stories with employers. When working with hiring teams, use short, real-life success stories to show how inclusion drives innovation and retention.
• Redesign your own processes. Are your registration forms accessible? Are your services responsive? Are your follow-up options flexible? Small changes like adding visual tools, extending check-in hours, or offering private consultations can greatly improve client experiences.

Justice: Influence Ethical Policy and Fair Practice

The Canadian career development field has long contributed to national wellbeing through guidance in schools, support for newcomers, and training for workers in transition. But we also have influence beyond our one-on-one work.

From housing and income supports to ethical AI and fair pay, policy decisions shape the futures of our clients. Our advocacy voice matters. We don’t need to wait for others to lead change. We can lead from within our profession.

Ways to Advocate Effectively:

• Submit feedback to government initiatives. Watch for public consultations (e.g. on pay equity, privacy, employment standards). A short submission to a parliamentary committee can help shift policy.
• Support fair-tech practices. AI hiring tools are not neutral. Advocate for audits and compliance with Canadian privacy laws like PIPEDA. Use Brookfield Institute’s Responsible AI Framework to inform conversations with employers.
• Speak up on job quality. Promote policies that support fair wages, benefits, remote work flexibility, and worker protections especially for underrepresented groups. Refer to Bill C-58 on whistleblower protections, as an example.
• Build a community of influence. Join forces with CPC colleagues who are passionate about advocacy. Mentor emerging professionals. Share knowledge to raise awareness of evolving labour market trends.

The Path Forward: A Canada Worth Building

CPC members aren’t just helping people find work. We’re helping them find dignity, security, and purpose in an uncertain world.

In this article, we’ve explored four powerful tenets: inclusion, resilience, kindness, and justice. Advocacy is what links them together. It transforms these tenets into progress. It removes barriers, expands access, redesigns outdated systems, and helps shape policies that serve everyone more fairly.

In our day-to-day work, our members choose to point the labour market in the right direction:

• Toward inclusion, where skills matter more than accents or gaps.
• Toward resilience, where people are equipped for tomorrow’s economy.
• Toward kindness, where systems serve people, not just the other way around.
• And toward justice, where prosperity is shared, and no one is left behind.

Your Turn: Join Us In Advocating for Our Profession

If you are a career professional, your everyday choices matter. Whether you are revising a résumé, designing a program, or guiding an employer, you are nudging the labour market in one direction or another. Ask yourself:

• Which of these strategies are you already using in your practice?
• What small shift might help you better align your work with your values?

Career Professionals of Canada is a community rooted in ethical, purposeful practice. If you are not a member of CPC, consider joining us.

Let’s continue to lift one another and our clients higher.

We are not powerless. Through everyday advocacy, our work today shapes the Canada of tomorrow.