Who we are

Meet Your Host

Michael Sangster comes to the NACC with a vision and passion to work with our 500 Career Colleges to create opportunities for students to chase their dreams.

He is passionate about bringing together our stakeholders, governments, colleges and students together to find common ground and build outcomes that support our communities.

Michael joins the NACC having most recently been the managing partner of the Waterloo Group and Chief Commercial Officer of Pal Aerospace. He was previously the Vice President of Strategic Relations and Federal Government Affairs at TELUS. Prior to TELUS he was Vice President of Sales at C-COM Satellite Systems, and Federal Government Relations and Sales Manager at Assure Health Inc.

He brings with him extensive volunteer experience with many diverse organizations in Ottawa including the Canadian Hospice and Palliative Care Association, Ottawa Police Gala, Ottawa Food Bank and the Hill Charity Golf Classic.

Michael was granted the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal Award in 2013 in recognition of his service to his community and is an Ottawa Police 2015 Community Leadership Award recipient. He attended the University of Manitoba and completed the Governance Essentials Program for Directors from the University of Ottawa School of Management Centre for Executive Education.

About NACC

NACC is a national association representing 550 regulated career colleges from across the country. We have an elected Board of Directors from across Canada that oversees the organization and is responsible to its members. The NACC staff administers the day-to-day business of the association and reports to the Board of Directors and the members.

In this video, our Board Chair, Vic Tesan, discusses the lasting impact of Canada's regulated career colleges. He highlights the importance of diversity, integrity, and community, explaining how these core values shape academic education and prepare our learners for success in the workplace.

  • Our purpose is to be the voice and enabler of opportunities for our members and benefits for their students.

  • Our vision is to be the recognized and respected voice of regulated career colleges across Canada. NACC is involved in a number of activities that support the career college industry and specifically its members and their students.

Here are a few of the current activities that NACC’s involved in:

  • We develop and offer curriculum packages to members who are committed to maintaining the program standards set by NACC. There are currently six programs available:

    • Early Childhood Assistant Program

    • Esthetics Program

    • Personal Support Worker Program

    • Personal Support Worker Bridging Program

    • Personal Support Worker Distance Education Program

    • Home Support Worker Program

    For more information on our curriculum, please contact Doris Jeanne MacKinnon, Director of Education and Development at djmackinnon@nacc.ca

  • Each year NACC holds a conference for all of its members. The conference brings together industry leaders to share and learn about the latest innovations and effective practices in education. Sessions are also held to discuss a number of topics such as:

    • Media Relations

    • Government policy

    • Accreditation programs

  • We continually work with the Federal government to represent career colleges on different levels. NACC has and will continue to work on projects and attend meetings such as:

    • Representing career colleges in front of parliamentary committees

    • Meeting with elected officials and public servants

    • Participating in meetings with the Educator Engagement Steering Committee

  • NACC has taken a proactive stance on issues that affect its members. To ensure that our members’ interests are voiced to the government, NACC undertakes the following:

    • Engages with key government officials so that NACC’s message is heard and understood

    • Closely monitors government actions related to education and specifically career colleges

    • Positions NACC to be able to quickly respond to questions from the media and government