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CICR 2025 Annual Review

Updated: 2 days ago

A Year of Growth and Resilience

This year, our core Third-Party Neutral (TPN) program continued to thrive, with:

  • 34 new TPN graduates

  • 50 graduates through the Cree-CICR partnership, celebrating over 15 years of collaboration

  • 25+ custom training mandates delivered across sectors

Behind these numbers is something more important: people gaining the skills, confidence, and presence to engage conflict constructively in workplaces, communities, and complex systems.

Expanding Our Reach Across Canada


In 2025, CICR deliberately expanded its national footprint. We strengthened institutional partnerships in Toronto and Montreal and deepened our engagement with municipalities through our presence at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Trade Show.

These efforts reflect a strategic shift: supporting public institutions and municipal leaders as they navigate increasingly visible, complex, and emotionally charged conflicts—both internally and with the communities they serve.


Investing in Trainers and the Future of Practice


Sustainability matters—not just financially, but in people and practice. In 2025, CICR launched a Train-the-Trainer pathway, formally investing in the next generation of TPN trainers.


This initiative:

  • Doubled our trainer pool

  • Supported 8 trainer-trainees

  • Welcomed 4 new co-trainers into active delivery roles

By strengthening our trainers’ learning community, CICR is ensuring that our experiential, reflective, and values-based approach to conflict resolution continues to evolve and endure.


Reconnecting with Our Foundations


2025 was also a year of reconnection—to our roots, our history, and our shared purpose.


We were proud to support:

These moments remind us that today’s work stands on decades of commitment, learning, and perseverance.


Local and Global Community Impact

CICR’s community-based approach extended well beyond Canada in 2025.


Internationally, we returned to our roots through TPN training with MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of Congo, delivered in Entebbe, Uganda—supporting peace building and dialogue capacity in contexts shaped by protracted conflict.


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Closer to home, Community Conflict Resolution Ottawa (CCRO) was greatly enhanced by an Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) grant. This grant enabled a successful two-day community symposium and guided the redesign of CCRO's mediation training to better serve vulnerable communities.


This effort enhanced free conflict-resolution services while deepening practitioners' capacity across Ottawa’s social service sector.

A New Chapter: Transitioning to a New Home

After more than thirty-seven years rooted at Saint Paul University, 2025 marked a meaningful transition for CICR. While relocating its offices to 150 Isabella Street in Ottawa, the Institute will continue to host select activities and sustain strong ties with Saint Paul University.


On December 5, we gathered at Saint Paul University for one final event of the year to celebrate our graduates. This moment served as both a farewell and a celebration—recognizing the many generations of Third-Party Neutrals who began their journeys at SPU, and affirming that the spirit of CICR’s community continues well beyond any single location.


Gratitude and Looking Ahead

None of this work happens alone. We extend heartfelt thanks to:

  • Our staff and trainers

  • Our Board of Directors

  • Our members, associates, and graduates

  • Our community, institutional, Indigenous, and international partners

As our Board Chair reflected in his AGM letter, it is the skill, heart, and effort of this community that allowed CICR not only to weather a challenging year but to grow.

With that same commitment, we step into 2026 ready to continue building capacity for dialogue, empathy, and peace—wherever conflict arises.




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