Community Social Services Awareness Month
The month of March is recognized as Community Social Services Awareness month and I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank all those working in this sector for your tireless efforts in serving vulnerable British Columbians in need of support, compassion and a sense of community. The work you do is important and this recognition by the province is well deserved.
2025 Bargaining
The Community Social Services Bargaining Association has indicated its readiness to commence bargaining to renew our sector’s three collective agreements. The parties are currently canvassing dates and are looking to start negotiations in May. We will keep the membership informed as details are confirmed.
In Memoriam
CSSEA mourns the recent loss of our colleague and friend, Shari Mahar, Executive Director of Community Integration Services Society. Shari was not only a respected leader and mentor to her staff and community at large, she also actively participated in CSSEA’s governance, having served on the Community Living Services panel, Board of Directors, Finance Committee and Chair of the Funding Committee. Shari was a strong advocate, true ally and wonderful person, and will be greatly missed.
Board and Joint Panels Meeting
CSSEA recently held Board and Panel meetings, during which the 2025/2026 fiscal year budget was approved by the Board. Both the Panels and Board engaged in a review of CSSEA's role as the sector’s data steward, with further clarification of the role to be presented at the next Board and Panel meetings in May.
2025 Compensation and Employee Turnover Report
The latest Compensation and Employee Turnover Report is now available for completion. To access the report form, user guide, or benchmark descriptions, please click here.
We encourage all agencies to send staff members who are completing this report to one of this year’s orientation sessions. Sessions commence this week in Vancouver and will be held around the province until mid-May. In addition to in-person sessions, we will also be holding four webinar orientations on April 16, April 23, May 1 and May 13. These sessions will provide helpful guidance on completing the report accurately and can answer any questions you may have. To register, please click here.
Populating Essential Services Database
Members are reminded that they are required to populate the Essential Services Database by April 11 with 2025 proposed levels. For information on how to complete this process, please read these two resources: backgrounder and instruction guide before populating the database. A recording from the education sessions can be found here.
Once the forms are completed and downloaded members are asked to send them to their designated union representatives by no later than April 11 to schedule local negotiations of levels. CSSEA will provide contact information for the union representatives in an upcoming bulletin once the CSSBA advises us. If you have any questions, please contact your CSSEA Advocate/Consultant.
Now Accepting Awards of Excellence Nominations
This year’s 10th anniversary Awards of Excellence nomination process is now open and we invite all members and associates to consider recognizing an outstanding individual working in our sector. For full details on nomination criteria and to access the online nomination form, please visit the Awards of Excellence website. While nominators may complete their nominations in increments, we remind you to save your drafts frequently, as the system does not automatically do so on your behalf. Nominations will be accepted until 5pm on April 11. We look forward to honouring this year’s recipients in Kelowna on October 9 and thank Telus for their continued support over the last decade.
Upcoming CSSEA Office Move
CSSEA will be relocating its office from downtown Vancouver to East Vancouver in the coming months. As part of the move, we will have various pieces of office furniture and equipment available for interested members; specific items will be posted later this spring/summer.
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