Reflections from CEWIL 2026: Staff Takeaways
This year's Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning (CEWIL) conference, Pathways to Partnerships, explored the perspectives of the individuals and groups across Canada’s youth employment ecosystem who influence and are influenced by work-integrated learning (WIL).
This focus was evident during the opening keynote speech, which featured LMIC's Director of Research and Strategic Foresight, Ken Chatoor, alongside representatives from the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, Indspire, and the Alberta Chambers of Commerce.
Bringing together the voices of students, industry, and labour market intelligence, the discussions focused on the challenges each of these communities faced in youth employment as well as what changes they wanted to see for youth.
An overlapping theme throughout the discussions was the need for collaboration among industry players to address imbalances in the youth labour market. Our own Ken Chatoor emphasized this during the opening plenary when he said, “I’ll be blunt: Our ability to meet these ambitions will only be as successful as our ability to work together to leverage our increasingly limited resources more effectively. Whether we like it or not, we are living in a time of limited resources, so working together is no longer about just best practice and being nice; it’s a necessity to get stuff done.”
CEWIL attendees took this message in stride, with many eager to share ideas and collaborate on solutions. We noticed this particularly at our booth, where visitors expressed interest in learning how to use labour market information (LMI) in their work—the first steps in paving the way for future partnerships and collaborations.
Booth highlights
The thrill of accessible and timely labour market information
Between trading WIL pins and spinning our prize wheel, conference attendees stopped by our booth ready to connect, share ideas, and explore new labour market tools. Throughout the conference, our team had the opportunity to speak with WIL professionals and career development practitioners (CDPs) from universities and institutions across Canada.
The excitement at the booth was hard to miss. Conversations quickly turned into live demos, follow-up questions, and enthusiastic discussions about how the tools could support students, institutions, and workforce planning. For many visitors, these conversations sparked ideas about how they could use LMIC’s resources in their own work, from supporting conversations with students to informing discussions with colleagues and engaging in broader planning activities.
Dashboards for student future planning
This year, we showcased three freshly launched dashboards: the Labour Market Imbalances Dashboard, the Youth Employment Dashboard, and the updated Canadian Job Trends Dashboard.
Whether they were learning about LMIC for the first time or recognizing our team members from previous events, visitors were enthusiastic about having LMI presented in a visual and accessible way at their (and their students’) fingertips.
Labour market information for connecting with students
Many conversations quickly turned to how these tools could be used in practice. WIL and CDP professionals often help students make real-time decisions about programs, placements, and next steps after graduation. Having relevant LMI presented clearly and visually helps CDPs keep these conversations more grounded, practical, and data-informed.
Labour market information for program planning
Several conversations also highlighted how LMI can support student advising beyond individual appointments. Attendees discussed using dashboard data to inform career workshops, employer engagement, co-op planning, and internal discussions of student needs. For institutions across Canada, tools like LMIC’s Dashboards can help professionals spot trends, ask guided questions, and bring reliable LMI into their work.
When combined with the expertise offered by WIL and CDP professionals, accessible labour market data can help students better understand their options and feel more confident about their next steps.
Dashboards for student future planning
This year, we showcased three freshly launched dashboards: the Labour Market Imbalances Dashboard, the Youth Employment Dashboard, and the updated Canadian Job Trends Dashboard.
Whether they were learning about LMIC for the first time or recognizing our team members from previous events, visitors were enthusiastic about having LMI presented in a visual and accessible way at their (and their students’) fingertips.
Labour market information for connecting with students
Many conversations quickly turned to how these tools could be used in practice. WIL and CDP professionals often help students make real-time decisions about programs, placements, and next steps after graduation. Having relevant LMI presented clearly and visually helps CDPs keep these conversations more grounded, practical, and data-informed.
Labour market information for program planning
Several conversations also highlighted how LMI can support student advising beyond individual appointments. Attendees discussed using dashboard data to inform career workshops, employer engagement, co-op planning, and internal discussions of student needs. For institutions across Canada, tools like LMIC’s Dashboards can help professionals spot trends, ask guided questions, and bring reliable LMI into their work.
When combined with the expertise offered by WIL and CDP professionals, accessible labour market data can help students better understand their options and feel more confident about their next steps.
Students want to take control with labour market information
Another topic that emerged throughout the conference was the importance of meeting students where they are. Students are also looking for flexible tools they can explore independently alongside career counselling and advising, whether they are preparing for a meeting with a career advisor, comparing their options outside the classroom, or trying to make sense of what they are hearing from peers, employers, and online sources.
Several attendees noted that students often turn to online resources and self-directed tools to explore career options and better understand labour market trends. These resources can help students prepare for, reinforce, and continue their conversations with career advisors.
As students increasingly seek to navigate career decisions independently, accessible, easy-to-use LMI is becoming an essential part of helping them make confident choices.
How it all connects
Although the conference’s opening sessions focused on hard-hitting subjects like high youth unemployment rates and the need for community responsibility, our conversations with attendees proved that the future is in passionate hands. Industry players came together to collaborate, learn, and find new ways to improve the ecosystem and the tools supporting it.
Many young people are navigating a complex labour market. Against this backdrop, WIL plays an important role in helping students connect their educations to real-world opportunities. But students also need access to information that helps them understand where opportunities are emerging, which skills are in demand, and how different regions and industries are changing. That is where timely and accessible LMI can help bridge the gap between uncertainty and informed decision-making.
CEWIL 2026 left us energized by the people working every day to support students as they transition from learning to working. More than just fun lip-sync battles, the conference gave us a strong belief in the community’s support for youth entering the workforce. We left with a renewed appreciation for the WIL community and the role LMI can play in supporting the next generation of workers.