Spring Session: April 7th to June 6th, 2025 

OSCA-ACOSO is pleased to announce that they will continue to offer Part 1, Part 2 and the Specialist in Guidance and Career Education Additional Qualifications courses this summer.
Additional sessions will take place in the fall and  winter. Advantages of taking the course with OSCA are the instructor is a current guidance teacher-counsellor, a one year OSCA subscription is included ($55 value if currently not active) and a downloaded copy of Ethical Guidelines ($25) is included. As part of the OSCA subscription, participants have the opportunity to attend the fall conference at a member rate, gain access to webinars throughout the year on topics related to guidance and career education, receive the weekly OSCA News to keep up to date with guidance/career topics, and receive the tri-annual OSCA Today, the professional magazine of the association.

Cost: $675 plus HST.
To register: www.osca.ca --> Next AQ course
Registration closes Friday, March 21st at 11:55 pm. This is a FIRM deadline.  
Teaching experience forms (Part 2 and Specialist) are all due no later than Wednesday, April 2nd. 
Please register early to reserve your seat!.

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OSCA/ACOSO invites presenters to submit proposals for workshops to be considered for our 2025 Conference, LEADERSHIP STARTS HERE: Empowering Leaders, Inspiring Change.

We are seeking presenters who excel in their areas of expertise and can deliver captivating and educational presentations to inspire NEW and EXPERIENCED teachers who are involved with Guidance and Career Education and Student Success.

SAVE THE DATE! New Webinar Opportunity
What's New from School Mental Health Ontario
Tuesday, March 25th @ 10:00 A.M.

As Guidance Educators, you play an increasingly important role in supporting student mental health! OSCA/ACOSO invites you to join Theresa Wilson and Tali Aikenhead, Implementation Coaches from School Mental Health Ontario, to hear about several of their newest resources, hot off the press, which support you, the students, and the parents/caregivers in your school community. SMHO continually updates its website to offer new and relevant resources that enhance your Mental Health Literacy toolkit. In this session, they will highlight your access to the newest professional development opportunity - MH LIT:  Mental Health in Action for Guidance Educators, available now in your E-Community.  You will also leave this 60-minute webinar with a resource list for easy access, to use and share with your colleagues. Register Here!

 

You are invited to a free virtual Guidance Dialogues event.

Visit the Guidance website for event information, including date, time, schedule and registration information (once available).

Registration is required and will be available in early April. This event is for guidance counsellors only.

Please send all event inquiries to: onunirecruitment@gmail.com .
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Nota : L’événement se tiendra principalement en anglais seulement.

Vous êtes invité(e) à une séance virtuelle gratuite des Dialogues.

Consultez le site Web Orientation pour de plus amples renseignements au sujet de l’événement, y compris la date et l’heure, l’horaire et des renseignements au sujet de l’inscription (une fois disponible).

L’inscription est exigée et sera disponible à compter du début avril. À noter que cet événement s’adresse uniquement aux conseillères et conseillers en orientation.

Prière d’envoyer vos questions à l’adresse : onunirecruitment@gmail.com.

The Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA) is offering Future Veterinarian Bursaries. These bursaries are designed to support equity-deserving high school students who are passionate about pursuing a career in veterinary medicine. Three bursaries of $1,000 each will be awarded for the 2024-2025 school year to students who demonstrate financial need and a keen interest in veterinary medicine. This initiative is part of OVMA’s ongoing commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion within the profession. The application deadline is May 30, 2025. 

For more details and to access the application form, please visit: Future Veterinarian Bursary. 

Rick and Amanda Hansen believe that people of all abilities should have the right to a barrier-free education. The Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarship for Youth with Disabilities, funded generously by the April 1 Foundation, provides financial support to Canadian youth with disabilities to pursue post-secondary education.

This scholarship aims to make a profound impact on the lives of Canadian youth with disabilities by removing financial barriers and supporting career aspirations through post-secondary education.

Funding of up to $10,000 per year (up to a maximum of $40,000) is available for youth with disabilities looking to complete a 1- to 5-year post-secondary program at a publicly funded institution in Canada.

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- Connect with representatives from 24 Ontario colleges.
- Learn about new programs, admission requirements, supports, hidden gems, experiential learning, pathways and more!
- Get your burning questions answered to allow you to continue to offer the best support for your students.
- Tour our fabulous facilities and see first-hand the learning labs and supports available for students.
- One word...LUNCH!

The Rick Hansen Foundation School Program (RHFSP) Difference Maker of the Year awards celebrate and recognize youth between the ages 5-18 years old that are leaders in making a positive impact for inclusion and accessibility for people with disabilities in their school or wider community.

Nominations for the 2024-2025 school year are now open! The award recipients will be announced during National AccessAbility Week, May 25 to 31, 2025. Individual award recipients will each receive $500 to recognize their work, while classrooms and youth groups will receive $1,000 to share. Learn more about our past recipients and get inspired with unique ways to make a difference in your school or community.

May, 6th, 2025 - Toronto Congress Centre

This enlightening conference provides career educators an opportunity to learn about skilled trade careers and the pathways that follow in relation to the journey. Our goal is for attendees to leave the conference feeling empowered and educated in sharing the day’s information with their students who may be considering a skilled trade career!

The conference features expert-led panels, a keynote speaker, thought-provoking discussions and the chance for participants to network with like – minded educators from across the province.

Gen Z jobseekers are widely embracing TikTok and other social media platforms as new career resources, underscoring the need for organizations to enhance their online presence if they want to attract next-generation talent.

More than 9 in 10 (92%) of Gen Zs trust TikTok for career advice.

In fact, some of the respondents admitted that they widely embraced trending employment practices on the platform, such as job hopping (55%) and career cushioning (48%), found Zety's survey.

Post-secondary education represents a crucial opportunity for students to lay the foundation for sustainable and fulfilling careers. However, traditional employability models have often focused narrowly on skills and attributes, overlooking the broader range of personal resources—collectively known as "employability capital—and external factors that influence long-term career success. This narrow focus leaves students underprepared to navigate complex career environments and thrive over time.

In response, this webinar introduces the Employability Capital Growth Model (ECGM), a comprehensive framework that integrates nine forms of employability capital, external factors and time dimensions. By leveraging the ECGM, students can identify and pursue personal outcomes that matter most to them, such as career progress, earnings, well-being, or career satisfaction. Together, we will explore how the ECGM can be integrated seamlessly into your career centre’s existing approaches, equipping career development professionals to prepare students for sustainable careers and contribute to a thriving career ecosystem.

Catch up on your career development reading this winter with these recently released books! The 10 titles below cover a wide variety of topics including career theories, decent work, military-to-cilivilian employment and refugee integration. Check out this list by following the link below!

OSCA/ACOSO recently held its first official Board of Directors meeting for 2025. We are thrilled to welcome new Directors to the board: Ron Perron, David Boshra, Kelly Stromme, Senthuran Paramasamy, and Sandra Idone.

The discussion agenda included presentations from prominent stakeholders: Theresa Wilson from School Mental Health Ontario, Chris Coupland, Chair of the Ontario Universities Council, Patty Marino from the Ministry of Education, and Derek Serafini from the Council of Registrars, Admissions, and Liaison of Ontario.
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L’OSCA/ACOSO a récemment tenu sa première réunion officielle du conseil
d’administration pour 2025. Nous sommes ravis d’accueillir de nouveaux directeurs au
conseil?: Ron Perron, David Boshra, Kelly Stromme, Senthuran Paramasamy et Sandra
Idone.
L’ordre du jour de la discussion a compris des présentations d’intervenants importants :
Theresa Wilson de Santé mentale en milieu scolaire Ontario, Chris Coupland, président
de l'Ontario Universities' Council on Admissions, Patty Marino du Ministère de
l’Éducation et Derek Serafini du Comité des registraires et agents d’admission et de
liaison.

Forms are to be submitted no later than Friday, September 12, 2025 by 4:00 p.m.

The Ontario School Counsellors’ Association has a long standing tradition (over 40 years) of recognizing and awarding those who stand out in the field of Guidance and Career Education. OSCA recognizes individuals and/or organizations that have made a significant contribution to Guidance and Career Education in Ontario. We can say with confidence that our past award winners have helped thousands find their pathways to successful futures!

OSCA-ACOSO Anthony Di Lena Student Pathway Awards' mandate is to assist at-risk students in their journey towards success. An award is given to at-risk students who have demonstrated the exemplary ability to succeed in the face of adversity. $500.00 awards are presented to students who, in their postsecondary pursuits, are taking a pathway to apprenticeship, college, community living, university or work.

Nominated students must be graduating/or have graduated from an accredited public secondary, Catholic secondary, or inspected private secondary school, including First Nations, in the province of Ontario in the previous school year. '

The deadline is Thursday, May 1st, 2025 by 4 PM.