Our History
May 2009
Instructional Designer (ID) Carolle Roy attended the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education (CNIE) conference in Ottawa. As is usually the case at such events, she met new people, often Instructional Designers, and reconnected with colleagues she had worked with in different contexts.
From her conversations with other IDs, a kind of unease emerged, not always explicitly articulated, but a kind of irritant that was nonetheless present. She doesn’t remember exactly how she broached the subject, but sometimes all it would take is one word for someone to open up with lived experiences along these lines: “The ID I work with has no training, so she’s constantly coming to me for information”; “My sister-in-law (or cousin, or friend…) has just decided to “become” an ID and relies on me to do her job properly so that, in reality, I do her job and she gets paid”; “One of my colleagues has no training, but he’s very clever and manages to convince the boss to accept his often unfounded instructional ideas”; “It’s such a pain to work with that university professor; he doesn’t recognize our competencies and the bosses don’t know the difference, since they don’t know what instructional design is either.”
These ideas and impressions percolated and echoed many of Carolle’s own observations and experiences over the years. The various comments revealed a problem in the profession, which was closely linked, among other things, to the fact that the field was not recognized as a specialty. Carolle Roy came to the conclusion that the only way to address this problem was to bring IDs together. She didn’t know how, but she was convinced that it was only by working as a group that they could move things forward.
And so it was that Carolle Roy began scouring Canadian university websites in search of Instructional Designers. It was no easy task, firstly because IDs are not always visible in a particular department or directory, and secondly because, as we know, titles change from one facility to another. From the outset, she wanted to bring together IDs from all Canadian provinces, perhaps because she was living in Winnipeg at the time, but mainly for three reasons: first, IDs are very often isolated, given that few facilities have large teams of IDs; second, even though it is the same profession, the influences are different in English and French, and both can benefit from the other’s perspective; and third, regardless of where this profession is practised, the issues and work contexts are very similar across the country.
On June 10, 2009, Carolle sent a letter of invitation to the 58 or so people she had identified via the Internet. The message simply urged anyone interested to take part in a virtual meeting with the aim of forming an association.
Twenty-two people confirmed their interest. After some discussion, the date of November 26, 2009 was set and, with the help of Claude Potvin of Université Laval, the Elluminate platform was used to continue the conversation. Carolle was also able to secure the services of an interpreter friend to facilitate exchanges between participants in both French and English.
At this meeting, after all the participants had introduced themselves, Carolle asked everyone to answer the following question: “Would you be willing to form an association?” 64% of respondents were for a new association, 36% did not answer, and no one was against the idea.
However, while the voting was taking place, participants began a discussion. Many topics were discussed and several suggestions were made, especially with regard to the confusion over the terminology in French used to describe the ID role. Various names were being used [in French] to designate the role, without it being clear whether they described different realities. The discussion also revealed a clear interest in exchanging, sharing, and networking.
Further to these discussions, the following decisions were made:
- Create a forum for exchanging ideas and information: Marc Couture set up a Ning site where anyone could post content and take part in exchanges using the various tools available.
- Give the group a provisional name: participants were encouraged to send their suggestions to Carolle Roy so that she could use them to create a Doodle poll. It was suggested that a “bilingual” or easily translatable name would be preferable. In addition to concepteur pédagogique, the following names were suggested in French: conseiller en formation, technopédagogue, conseiller pédagogique, and communauté d’échange technopédagogique. The term Instructional Designer was much more straightforward in English.
- Draw up a list of names with the areas of expertise and interest of those interested in exchanging ideas in a small group.
A few months later, the organizers had to accept the reality that the communication tools put in place were not being used. That said, the emails Carolle Roy received showed a clear interest in setting up a professional association.
July 2010
Jill Campbell of Assiniboine Community College, Éric Chamberland of Université de Sherbrooke, and Brigitte Belzile of Université Laval stepped up to the challenge and joined Carolle Roy as founding members. The four worked together to draft the new association’s by-laws and regulations, define its mission and goals, develop the accreditation model and membership process, and put in place the entire governance structure of what would become the ACCP-CAID.
At the time, the committee felt that the French term “concepteur pédagogue” (for Instructional Designer) was the most accurate and descriptive of the role of the designer of learning materials and experiences. The other rival French term of “conseiller pédagogique”(educational consultant) did not, in the committee’s view, correspond to the same role, and referred more to educational consultancy services. Moreover, the second term conveys the idea of being removed from the field of direct intervention, and contributes to devaluing the work of Instructional Designers and reducing the importance of their role in the development process.
From the outset, it was clear to the four founders that members would have to be certified via an accreditation process and that this would require a graduate degree in Instructional Design. The challenge was to determine what this training should be. They then consulted national and international experts in the field. It is worth noting that the people they reached out to in Australia, England, the US, and Canada all responded promptly and all expressed support for the initiative.
The accreditation model was discussed at length, given that it was central to what the association was all about. In addition to the experts, the founding members consulted websites, conducted research, and put a great deal of thought into the matter. It seemed fairly obvious to them that they should draw inspiration form the competencies established by the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (IBSTPI). This document is used by several organizations as the basis for their competency frameworks, including the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD). The founding members developed the ACCP-CAID Instructional Designer Competency Document based on the IBSTPI competency list, making the necessary adjustments to bring it more in line with Canadian realities.
Once the accreditation model was established, the processes surrounding membership applications had to be planned, including application assessment criteria, membership fees, and annual dues. Fees have undoubtedly been, and continue to be, the most difficult to establish. Given the association’s not-for-profit status, how could we determine the optimal membership fee to ensure its survival and development? How could we ensure that the application and membership fees were high enough to keep applicants interested in joining? The minimum threshold was determined on the basis of the personal experience of each founding Board member, but the fee issue is still relevant today.
The accreditation model provided for two ways to obtain accreditation: academic-based and competency-based. It was very clear to the founding committee that its members were not (and still are not) qualified to “judge” competency acquisition. It was therefore necessary to be able to formally ascertain that candidates had acquired these competencies.
University-Based Accreditation
University-based accreditation could be evidenced by the university credits earned. However, since there are very few (or, depending on the period, no) graduate degrees in Instructional Design, it was impossible (and still remains difficult) to require candidates to provide a graduate degree in Instructional Design. Transcripts attesting to the courses taken, regardless of the degree obtained, were therefore requested. While all of the competencies listed in the ACCP-CAID Instructional Designer Competency Document must have been acquired, it is possible to acquire them in different programs, provided the program is a graduate one.
Competency-Based Accreditation
Implementing competency-based accreditation took longer. In the summer of 2012, in response to the need identified, steps were taken to complement our university-based accreditation model by implementing a competency-based accreditation process through the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD). After several meetings with the CSTD and checking their “Certified Training and Development Professional (CTDP)” feature using “Designing Training” as a competency demonstration, this option became available to candidates with no university training. This organization also uses the IBSTPI competency list for its assessments. Lastly, the committee established that to obtain recognition of their experience, candidates must first have obtained certification from the CSTD, a Canadian organization specializing in the recognition of prior learning in the teaching field.
In late summer 2011, the association’s website was created using Joomla. The accreditation model and membership process were finalized and the work of the founding committee continued. Several versions of the by-laws, accreditation model, and membership process were drafted to establish the association’s operating procedures.
On September 15, 2011, the creation of the ACCP-CAID was announced in the various Canadian institutional training networks.
On October 2, 2011, an email was sent to the participants of the November 26, 2009 meeting announcing the creation of the founding committee and asking them to complete a survey to determine the needs of IDs.
An application for incorporation was finally sent to Corporations Canada and, on September 23, 2011, the ACCP-CAID received its letters patent and became incorporated. The committee was finally ready to issue invitations to join the association.
Next came the question of the activities to be offered. The workshop format was developed on the basis of feedback from the October 2 survey. For the ACCP-CAID, it has always been very important to be able to offer these activities, given that they are in keeping with the association’s mission, which is to contribute to the progress of instructional design through study, research, information-sharing, professional development, promotion, exchanges, meetings, seminars, conferences, etc. The first workshop took place on June 8, 2012. English interpretation services were available to participants.
Summer 2012
In the summer of 2012, the website was transferred to PHP programming and a mailing list tool was installed for the ACCP-CAID. The By-laws had to be reviewed and amended to comply with the new Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. The certificate of continuance was obtained on March 15, 2013.
Master classes were launched in 2013. These classes were initially offered on demand, but their popularity led to the development of a more extensive schedule of Master classes to keep pace with the rapid evolution of the field.
In 2014, we launched the All for One initiative. The first event was held on May 7, 2014.
In the months and years that followed, the various Boards of Directors spared no effort to promote the association with a view to raising its profile. One example is a collaboration agreement with the CNIE. An awareness campaign targeted Canadian employers to encourage them to give positive consideration to applications from certified Instructional Designers. An awareness-raising letter was sent to all heads of educational technology departments and technology service at universities across Canada that had previously been contacted.
From 2015 to 2020, the ACCP-CAID garnered increased visibility and its membership grew steadily, peaking at 90 members by around 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and successive changes to the Board of Directors slowed the association’s activities somewhat.
Recent History & Next Steps
In January 2024, the association made a strong comeback with the relaunch of Master classes, Workshops and All for One events, adding two new types of events: Panels and Public Places. The annual program features one event every month.
In March 2024, a Development Officer – Communications and Social Networks was hired to further raise the association’s profile. The website was redesigned to make it more user-friendly and attractive, and steps were taken to overhaul its layout to give users a more modern and fluid browsing experience.
In 2024-2025, the ACCP-CAID is planning a major shift toward renewing its governance practices and operations management. Initiatives are underway to consolidate routine tasks and automate several management processes. Steps are being taken to increase the association’s funding, so that it can continue to pursue its activities and professional networking, and have greater flexibility to face the development challenges that lie ahead.
The success of the ACCP-CAID has always been and continues to be built on the strength of its membership.
The Board of Directors
2025-04-15
ACCP-CAID Board Members – 2011 to 2025