Languages Canada 19th Annual Conference Charts a Collaborative, Innovative Path Forward for Official Languages Education

Gary Gervais, President of LC’s Board of Directors, and Gonzalo Peralta, the association’s Executive Director, set an energizing and forward-looking tone for the conference with their opening remarks: while the landscape is shifting, the sector is responding with innovation, collaboration, and a shared commitment to student success.

That spirit carried into the Innovation in Practice keynote panel, where Alberta sector leaders Olle Lagerquist, Associate Vice President Industry Solutions at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), Werner Beylefeld, Associate Vice President, International at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), and Dr. Raynie Wood, Executive Director of the Alberta Bureau for International Education (ABIE), explored how institutions are adapting in real time. The discussion focused on the practical “how” of driving change within complex institutions, setting a clear, solutions-focused and “can do” tone for the conversations that followed throughout the conference.

International collaboration was front and centre with a session on Partnership Opportunities for Global Skills Development in Mexico highlighting the growing demand for English and French for specific professional, technical, and academic purposes, capacity-building for language educators, and corporate training and workforce development.

Panelists Diego Hernández Huerta (Global Skills Institute), Dr. Enrique Gallegos and Lic. Blanca Zavala (Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana de San Luis Potosí), Francisco Quiroz (Universidad Tecnologica de Jalisco), and Veronica Soto (Trade Commissioner for Education in Guadalajara, Mexico), shared practical insights on how Canadian institutions can work with partners in Mexico to expand opportunities for learners.

A new conference stream this year was the Innovation Lab, where members explored new partnership models, program design strategies, and recruitment channels to support growth. Sessions such as Community and Industry Engagement to Successful Partnerships, Peer Power: Leveraging Student Ambassadors for Authentic International Recruitment, The Great Destination Re-Shuffle – Turning Data Into Direction, Opportunities in French-Language Programming: Examples and Discussion and Beyond General ESL/FSL: Exploring EMI, ESP, and Other New Program Models offered practical ideas, peer-driven insights, and concrete strategies that participants could take back and put into action right away.

A key focus of the Innovation Lab was the expansion of the Joint Pathway Program (JPP) pilot, which is now extending beyond Ontario to institutions across the country. The JPP offers a clear, structured, and policy-aligned approach to supporting students as they move from language education into post-secondary studies. The program is already generating strong interest among members and a great number of them took advantage of the Innovation Lab to attend JPP-focused sessions and institution-to-institution partnership-building meetings.

During the Annual General Meeting held on March 14, Languages Canada members welcomed their new board of directors:

• Gary Gervais (President), Heartland International English School
• Chris Mediratta (Vice President – Private), ILSC Education Group
• Stéphane Lemelin (Vice President – Public and Director responsible for French programs), Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-La-Pocatière
• Robin Adams (Treasurer), Centre of English Studies
• Lisa Morgan (Secretary), University of Toronto
• Sharon Curl (Past President), Oxford International Education Group
• Carolina Cook, ATPAL Languages
• Angela Johnston, International Language Academy of Canada (ILAC)
• Evan Lavoie, University of Ottawa
• Kerrianne MacKenzie, Cape Breton Language Centre
• Sheri Rhodes, Mount Royal University
• Corinne Whitney, Georgian College
• Julian Inglis, Brock University
• Cam Harvey, Global Village English Centres
• Stephanie Samboo, Sheridan College
• Ayesha Mushtaq, Dalhousie University