With the ratification of the new CT Collective Agreement last year, the funding provided for the Joint Career Development Program (JCDP) was increased to $1.47 million. This unprecedented investment in community development and training was a hard-fought win for the collective bargaining team and – thanks to their hard work – we are excited to announce changes to the way ACFO-ACAF delivers professional development as well as new training offerings coming in 2023-24!

Here’s what you need to know:

At its core, the JCDP is still the JCDP

Having delivered training and development in some form or another since the debut of Spring Tune Up in 2011, we’ve developed a pretty good understanding of what forms of training work for you.

We’ll continue to offer a mix of formats including:

• development days, like Spring Tune Up and the Regional Tune Up series; and
   
• classroom courses, including those developed in-house by our staff and those delivered by trusted training partners.

And with our increased funding, we’re excited to introduce other offerings, such as experiential learning opportunities and more in-depth cohort-based learning – more on those soon!

We’re tweaking the way you apply for courses

In the past, we opened applications for all classroom courses offered through the JCDP in April or May, then left applications open until June. Everyone who applied was put into a random draw and seats in courses were allocated in one shot.

Starting this year, the initial draw will be for courses in the fall term only (September – December). A second draw will open in October for courses taking place in the winter term (January – March).

• SAVE THE DATE: The first intake lottery for 2023-24 will open on April 25!

This way you won’t have to try to predict your availability so far in advance. And you’ll get a second chance to apply for courses in the winter if you don’t get one in the fall.

We’re bringing back an old favourite

We’re pleased to announce that the Interchange Program is making a return this year due to popular demand. There are two versions of these interchanges, and prior to the pandemic, they were among the most in-demand and highly-reviewed of all our JCDP offerings.

The NCR Interchange brings a group of members from across the country to the National Capital Region for a week of site visits, job shadowing opportunities, and special presentations designed to provide insight to how work happens in departmental HQs and central agencies.

The Regional Interchange does the opposite, bringing a group of members from the NCR out to a region for a week, where they get a better understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities of working in a regional office.

• SAVE THE DATE: Applications for the Interchange Program will be part of the first intake lottery opening on April 25!

There will be a total of four interchanges included this year, with two NCR Interchanges bringing a total of up to 24 regional members to Ottawa-Gatineau, and two Regional Interchanges bringing 12 NCR members to each of Montreal and Moncton.

And yes, the future is hybrid

While in-person offerings made a return to the JCDP in 2022-23, we plan to continue to offer a mix of online and in-person programming to ensure as many people can participate in the way that’s most accessible for them.

For our classroom courses, this means we’ll have some online cohorts and some in-person ones, while for our larger events like Spring Tune Up, this means we’ll continue to offer an online stream of core content.So what comes next? Here’s what to look forward to as we roll out this year’s program:

• April 19: Registration for Spring Tune Up opens
• April 25: Applications for the JCDP fall term draw open
• June 6: Spring Tune Up takes place at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa and online
• June 12: Applications for the JCDP fall term draw close
• July/August: Registration for Regional Tune Ups opens

You’ll also want to keep your eyes peeled for information on new offerings that may be rolled out during the year! Make sure your member information is up to date, and remember, all training and travel costs for the Interchange provided through the JCDP are 100% free for ACFO-ACAF’s public service members!