2025 AGM and Conference
We thank members for attending this year’s AGM and Conference, Sparking Innovation. Your engagement, discussion and presence contributed to the event’s success and we are grateful that you chose to learn and network with us. CSSEA appreciates any feedback on the event and encourages all attendees to complete our post-conference evaluation. To show our gratitude for taking the time to complete the evaluation, CSSEA will be entering all responses (with contact details provided) into a draw to win one of two 2026 full conference registrations – a $695 value each. CSSEA will close the survey at 5pm on October 24 and winners will be notified the week of October 27. CSSEA’s 2026 conference will be taking place in Vancouver from October 14-16.
Available speaker presentations have been posted on our conference website and we will continue to add presentations as they are submitted.
2025-2027 Board and Panel Members
Members met at their respective divisional panel meetings at last week’s AGM to select their 2025-2027 panel representatives. Updates are as follows:
Indigenous Service
Adam Calvert from La Societé de les Enfants Michif (Métis Family Services) was appointed CSSEA’s new Board Chair for the term 2025-2027. Ginna Berg from Fraser River Indigenous Society was appointed Chair of the panel, while Melanie Hudson was appointed Vice-Chair;
Community Living Services
Ryan Cucheron and Dawn Hein were re- appointed to the Board for the terms 2025-2027 and will join Anita Sihota, whose term expires in 2026. Tammy Khanna and Dawn Hein will remain as CLS Panel Chair and Vice-Chair respectively.
2025-2027 CLS Panel Members:
Ryan Cucheron, Vernon and District Association for Community Living
Jennifer Fowler, Clay Tree Society
Karen Hansen, Shuswap Association for Community Living
Dawn Hein, Mission Association for Community Living
General Services
Jaye Russell was appointed to the Board for the term 2025-2027 and will join Tim Veresh, whose term expires in 2026. Darius Maze of Kiwassa Neighbourhood House was appointed new Panel Chair, while Sanjeev Nand from Langley Community Services Society remains as Vice-Chair. Navreen Gill from Burnaby Family Life joins for a one-year term due to an early vacancy resulting from an upcoming retirement and Jeremy Welder from Okanagan Boys & Girls Clubs also joins the panel for the first time.
2025-2027 GS Panel Members:
Sanjeev Nand, Langley Community Services Society
Jaye Russell, Sea to Sky Community Services Society
Judy Valsonis, Touchstone Family Association
Jeremy Welder, Okanagan Boys & Girls Clubs
We congratulate all new and returning panel and board members. For a list of CSSEA’s complete Divisional Panels, please click here and for a list of our full Board of Directors, please click here.
Community Social Services Awards of Excellence
We thank all those who joined CSSEA in celebrating this year’s 10th anniversary Awards of Excellence recipients. The event was uplifting, emotional and inspiring, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to share the stories of our four outstanding recipients:
Rising Star – Biljana Kuzmanovska from North Shore Disability Resource Centre
Hero – Jeanie Hollis from Teddy Bear Daycare, Kootenai Community Centre Society
Leader – Tara Tschritter from Turning Points Collaborative Society
Legend – David Young from Sources Community Resource Centres
CSSEA continues to be grateful to TELUS for their 10 years of support. Members who were unable to attend the awards can view this year’s recipient videos on our revamped Awards of Excellence website. We encourage members to consider nominating an outstanding individual for next year’s awards, which will be celebrated in Vancouver on October 15, 2026. Nominations will open next March.
Collective Bargaining Update
CSSEA’s Bargaining Team and the Community Social Services Bargaining Association (CSSBA) resume bargaining on October 27 and have dates scheduled into the end of November. As we await the parties’ return to negotiations, members are reminded that our sector is not impacted by strike mandates at other provincial tables; there is currently no impasse in discussions, nor have strike votes been taken or job action anticipated.
E-Learning Hub Funding Extension
Thanks to recent funding from the BC Social Care Leadership Training Grant, CSSEA is pleased to continue offering complimentary access to labour relations courses on the MyLeadershipHub online platform. These self-paced courses, developed in partnership with the EQ Development Group, cover key topics including Performance Management, Conducting Investigations, Understanding the Disciplinary Process, and more. Leadership courses and the LEAD program will be offered at a reduced fee of $495 per person for a group of 12 or more. Employers are encouraged to require staff in leadership roles to complete these courses. To register, go to https://cssea.myleadershiphub.com/ and click “Register Now” from the homepage to create a free account. Existing Learning Hub members can continue accessing courses using their existing login credentials. If you have any questions, e-mail: cssea@myleadershiphub.com.
CSSEA Office Move
CSSEA has now re-located to its new office at 400-2889 East 12th Avenue in Vancouver. We encountered some unexpected technical issues during the move that resulted in a longer-than-anticipated network outage. If you sent e-mails to CSSEA staff between September 25 and October 7 that have not been answered, it is likely that those e-mails were not delivered so we ask that you re-send your message(s). We apologize for any inconvenience that the outage may have caused.
2025 Compensation and Employee Turnover Report
For members who have not yet submitted their Compensation and Employee Turnover Report, CSSEA’s Research and Knowledge Management team is still accepting late submissions given the heightened importance of accurate member data on this bargaining year. If you have any questions or need assistance completing the report, please contact research@cssea.bc.ca.