Marilyn Van Norman Bursary

The Counselling Foundation of Canada has established the Marilyn Van Norman Bursary to support community-based career development and employment practitioners in attending the Cannexus conference each year.

There are 13 bursaries available with one awarded within each province and territory. Bursaries will be for a single full conference registration to attend the virtual conference. Applications must be from charitable or non-profit Canadian community-based organizations. A limit of one application per organization is requested.

As CERIC’s funder and the Founding Partner of Cannexus, the Foundation has been awarding the bursary (formerly the Elizabeth McTavish Bursary) since 2006.

The application deadline is September 29, 2023.
Apply here

About Marilyn Van Norman

The bursary is given in recognition of Marilyn Van Norman, the retired Director of Research Initiatives at CERIC. Known as a collaborator, visionary and expeditor, she is widely respected for her more than 40 years of leadership in the career development field.

Over 12 years at CERIC, Marilyn led several innovative initiatives, establishing the Graduate Student Engagement Program (GSEP), creating the Canadian Career Development Researcher Database and producing 60 literature searches. She also authored two popular books for CERIC on career centre management.

Previously, she held key roles at the University of Toronto as the Director of the Career Centre and later Director of Student Services. Her earlier book, Making It Work: Career Management for the New Workplace, was a Canadian bestseller.

Marilyn has been active on numerous Canadian committees and Boards relating to career development including: a Past President of the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE); member of the founding Board of CERIC and Chair of the National Consultation on Career Development (NATCON) for 15 years.

Recognized with a number of awards, Marilyn was the first recipient of CERIC’s Etta St John Wileman Award for Lifetime Achievement in Career Development in Canada.