The History of the NSCDA and National Certification Program

On December 10th, the Certified Career Development Practitioner program was launched. An event was held at the NSCDA office. A press release went out on December 2, and a full-page article ran in The Beacon, a local Nova Scotia community newspaper.

A Pilot of the program took place over five months in 2024. More than 143 applications were received, and 22 people were enrolled. Twenty completed all program requirements and were conferred the CCDP designation.

NSCDA took the initiative with the support of the career development community to create a national brand to develop and administer the National Career Development Certification (NCDC) program accessible to all Canadians in the field.

Registration of the French initialism, praticiens certifiés en développement de carrière, PCDC® was granted on October 30, 2019.

The NSCDA commissioned a consultant to conduct an evaluation of the certification program. This review was designed to assess both its delivery and to identify ways in which the certification program could be improved.

On January 20, 2018 more than 50 people attended an event to celebrate the 150th CCDP certification at the Nova Scotia Works Employment Services Centre in Windsor, Nova Scotia. The event was live-streamed to the NSCDA’s Facebook page and broke all records for the NSCDA’s social media views.

Hants West MLA Chuck Porter was one of the speakers recognizing Stephanie Berry, a Case Manager with Team Work Cooperative, as the 150th career developer to receive certification. Rebekah Skeete, the first person ever to receive the CCDP designation, was also honoured. Rebekah is the Director of Operations for the Nova Scotia Works YMCA employment centres of Halifax / Dartmouth.

The NSCDA was granted the certification mark CCDP® in October of 2018. The certification mark applies to the NSCDA’s certification process. Those granted the CCDP® credential have met or exceeded the necessary training, experience and qualifications to work as a professional career development practitioner within Nova Scotia. To complete the certification process, career developers must demonstrate competency-based recognition of prior learning with a minimum number of hours worked in the field, reference checks, a structured interview, and an exam, amongst other criteria.

NSCDA developed a five-year strategic plan.

The NSCDA introduced an online learning management system known as the HUB.

Production of courses and training sessions begins.

The NSCDA began translating products and materials to French.

The NSCDA received core funding from the NS Department of Labour and Advanced Education.

Career Pathways to Certification was introduced for those unable to meet prerequisite of 5400 hours of career development practice to begin the Certified Career Development Practitioner (CCDP) certification process.

A Career Development and Training position was created and more in-person and online training was developed for members.

An online training calendar was added to the website.

The Mental Health Champions initiative was introduced. Thirty-three staff members from Nova Scotia Works’ offices identified as Mental Health Champions.

NSCDA developed a five-year strategic plan.

The Certified Career Development Practitioner initialism CCDP^® trademark was registered September 30, 2016.

The Career Services Guide: Supporting People Affected by Mental Health Issues was published using findings from Charting the Course, and made available to CDPs.

The Career Services Guide: Supporting People Affected by Mental Health Issues was published using findings from Charting the Course, and made available to CDPs.

The Nova Scotia Government outlined a Framework for Delivery of Employment Services in the province. It became a requirement for all case management staff to obtain Career Practitioner Certification, a responsibility delegated to NSCDA.

The NSCDA published a Communiqué announcing that the first Career Development Practitioners (CDPs) received their designation on January 16th, 2015. Those 11 Certified Career Development Practitioners (CCDPs) became the assessors for future Certification candidates, including the 55 career development professionals going through the NSCDA’s certification pilot project.

Planning for implementation of the voluntary certification program commenced.

The Certified Career Development Practitioner program was launched.

In 2013, the Nova Scotia Career Development Practitioner Core Competency Profile was created as an adaptation from the national S&Gs. Testing instruments were developed based on the core competency profile.

The NSCDA submitted Exploring the Creation and Implementation of a Certified Career Development Professional Designation in Nova Scotia to the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Workforce Development.

This 24-page report included the results of an e-mail survey and a focus group. One hundred ninety-eight respondents participated, and 96% supported certification.

A five-year strategic plan was created.

Development began on the provincial Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners.

The development of the professional certification program begins.

Between 2006 and 2009 a certification working group examined approaches from other provinces, then created and piloted a framework for Nova Scotia.

The Nova Scotia Career Professional Association organization was incorporated.

The first meeting of the new professional association was held in Annapolis Valley.

A forum / first conference was held in June at the Sea King Club in Shearwater, Nova Scotia.

A meeting of the Nova Scotia Career Development Action Group was held to discuss the creation of the NS Career Development Professional Association. This took place at the Community College on Bell Road, Halifax.

The Nova Scotia Career Professional Association was officially created.