Our professional development sessions help registrants improve their skills, keep current with industry trends, and live healthier lives. Professional Development
Additionally, a total of 2,064 people attended five sessions in 2025 through APEGA’s partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). Attendees heard CMHA professionals speak on managing burnout, dealing with grief and loss, and adapting to adversity in a changing world. Increasing access and opportunities APEGA remained focused on supporting women in the professions with guidance from the registrant volunteers of the Women in APEGA Advisory Group. More than 1,100 people attended 13 training sessions (eight in person and five virtual) that supported greater understanding of barriers faced by underrepresented groups in the professions. As part of the Ethnocultural Grant Program, funded by the Government of Alberta, we introduced a free speaker series to share the history and culture of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples to help our registrants collaborate more effectively across cultures and adapt with the evolving needs of the communities they serve. We hosted 14 events in 2025, totalling 15 since receiving the grant in late 2024, with more than 600 attendees, surpassing the grant’s goal of offering 10 sessions. The in-person Ethnocultural Grant Program event was especially meaningful for attendees and speakers alike. At this session, Les Vonkeman, a retired police officer and Sixties Scoop survivor, led a campfire conversation with Lethbridge Branch registrants and Elders from the Kainai Nation, southwest of Lethbridge on Blood 148, the largest First Nation reserve in Canada. An APEGA manager who attended the session explains, “In the circle, Elders were talking about their experiences in residential schools, and they were very honest. One woman said she grew up hating white people. But at the end she said, ‘I don’t want you to feel sorry for me—I want you to understand the truth, because that’s part of reconciliation.’ And then she explained that us being there, willing to listen, was part of her healing.”
Being a professional geoscientist or engineer in Alberta means continually improving your technical skills and your ability to handle the responsibility and pressure that comes with your job. Every year, APEGA offers dozens of free webinars aimed at improving your abilities and your mental health. “Professional development doesn’t just keep you in touch with changes happening in the field, emerging topics, or trends—it enables you to connect with other people and build communities. You don’t have to do it—you get to do it, at no cost. And that all leads to better geoscience and engineering for Albertans.”
— APEGA’s career development manager
Supporting registrants’ mental health Registrants continued to benefit from our annual Building Mental Health Together series, learning sustainable strategies for improving their overall well-being. The theme was “Resilience in Action: Strengthening Mental Health.” In October, Alberta-based speakers Amanda Lindhout (Resilience Redefined: How to Unlock Your Inner Strength) and Lisa Belanger (Unlocking Health, Collaboration, Creativity, and Culture), and neuroscience coach and former firefighter Jim Brayshaw (Dismantling Stigma from the Inside Out) empowered 1,335 attendees to build stronger connections and mental-health culture within their workplaces.
32 56
2025 ANNUAL REPORT
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker