JLP holds facilitator clinics across Canada

December 12, 2022

As the world shifts again and workers are returning to the office, the JLP is slowly re-establishing in-person workshops where the conditions allow. To support facilitators in this transition, JLP Regional Field Coordinators across the country are holding in-person clinics for facilitators. These clinics allow facilitators to connect with their colleagues, to review the principles of adult learning and to continue to develop core facilitation skills, with an emphasis on in-person facilitation.

a cake which reads, “Congratulations Tim” To date, three regions have held their clinics. Facilitators came together to strengthen their facilitation skills with a focus on in-person workshops, as well as building stronger ties with each other. Participants reviewed the principles of adult learning and were given the opportunity to co-facilitate a small exercise with their peers.

Prairies-Northwest Territories Region

In the Prairies-Northwest Territories region, clinics were held in Edmonton, Regina and Winnipeg and were facilitated by Regional Field Coordinators Mindy Mackie (Union) and Karen Sokol (Employer).

In the clinic evaluations, participants summed up the experience, saying, “This clinic had helped to decrease my fears, increase my confidence and energize my passion to facilitate”. Another participant wrote, “This gave me back my confidence after being away from in-person learning for so long.”

In Regina, Tim Hubick was also recognized for reaching the significant milestone of facilitating 50 workshops in his JLP career thus far.

Regina Participants	Winnipeg Participants	Edmonton Participants
Tim Hubick Angelina Lunde Kelly MacDonald Kara Bye Sue Arling Amy Stoik Robin Joseph Dustin Hockley Janet McElligott Carolynn Pedrick Erika Mrazek Shawna Grant	Nicole Papineau Kristine Johnston Corrinne Mitchell Yvette Matousek-Wilson Chris Seidel Rachel d’Eschambault Peter Gibson Laura Jones Craig Kremer Jodi McFadden Bernard Baloy Glenn Hurd	Vicky Worrell Tyla Tong Sukhpal Sangha Nihada Hasanovic Vito Lam Deb Rule Lissette Serrano Allan Tam Heather Heystek Katherine Hutt Philippe Amoussou Farzia Tapadar Michelle Turner Lisa Mercredi

National Capital Region

In the National Capital region, all clinics were held in Gatineau and facilitated by the Regional Field Coordinators for the region, Annik Campagna (Union) and Ronald Thériault (Employer). Participants got acquainted or reacquainted with their colleagues and counterparts and prepared themselves for the experience of face-to-face facilitating. A JLP folder and a notebook which reads, “Ideas” lie on a table.

One participant noted, “It was a great refresher, I have learned a lot of new skills. The two days were full of learning activities that helped to build confidence and connect with each other. I’m excited to start doing in-person again.”

Another wrote, I was so happy to get to meet new facilitators and to see some old friends. This was a great refresher of the skills we learned at Orientation, especially important for those who have become facilitators during the pandemic. I feel better equipped and more confident after this session.”

Participants Clinic One	Participants Clinic Two
Claude Turpin Véronique Langlois Monique Tremblay Barbara Hiom Beboua Toufic El Daher Stanley Decayette Jodi Fournier Suzanne Hehle Antoine Bourdages	Laura de Ruiter Christine Piette Natalie Sarault Alana McDonald Susan Drysdale Monica Chavez Kylie Howsam Beverly Le Drew Waheed Khan Jackie Zeng Crystal Day Valeriah Whacha Janice Lobo-Dale Lorraine Mason Holly Melanson Kim Sweeney

Ontario-Nunavut Region

A text box which reads, “The facilitators helped me and I’m ready! Let’s do this!!” The Ontario-Nunavut region hosted three clinics across the region. Regional Field Coordinators Ryan Winger (Union) and Teresa Morgan (Employer) travelled to Ajax, Mississauga, and Windsor to reach as many facilitators as possible. As in other regions, facilitators had a chance to try their hands at co-facilitating in a face-to-face environment with the participation of their peers.

The facilitators’ enthusiasm for the events was expressed in their evaluations. One participant wrote, “This gave me back my confidence after being away from in-person learning for so long.” A JLP poster sporting all participants’ names hangs on a door.

Another summed up their history with the JLP writing, “JLP has been one of the best learning experiences I have had the opportunity to be a part of. This clinic has helped to decrease my fears, increase my confidence, and energize my passion to facilitate.”

Ajax Participants	Mississauga Participants	Windsor Participants
Herb Alfaro Brian Benson Jack Botwinik Fran Cohen Heather Cruickshank Tiana Gayle Binu George Christina McLeod Angelo Manzara Gord Mitchell Karen Page Renée Phillips-Samuels Natalie Sitt Shareen Somani Veronica Williams Lisa Wlock Larisa Zhurakovskaya	Natashia Bennett-Nelson Sandra Bosnjak Kathryn Bunyan-McClendon Sonya Chelliah Marten Dykstra Rosa Figueroa Mary Jeyananthan Patricia Jurczynski Zahra Kotadia Tamara Lopez Aaron MacGregor Suzanne McFarlane Alpar Molnar Elizabeth Reger Geoff Ryan Catherine Stubley	Sarah Barbisan Rhonda Beauvais Michael Cooper Sally Craggs Stephanie Denis Marie-Élène Gauthier Debbie Gouin Sara Johnson Christine Haggar Jennifer Mak James Marchand David Moore Sonal Parikh Jessica Spafford Joseph Truman

The success of the clinics is clearly reflected in the personal statements in the evaluations. It is also clear that facilitators are excited to get back to face to face workshops and now, they are better equipped to get back to the boardroom. The JLP is excited to move into a new era of offering workshops in-person as well as the virtual discussions developed throughout the pandemic.

All photos by Karen Sokol