CT Academy

CT Academy programs offer participants the most immersive learning experience available to members of the CT Community. These multi-modal, multi-step learning journeys take a cohort of members through a series of courses, workshops and exercises geared to their specific stream of work or career stage, allowing for deep and meaningful learning experiences along with the opportunity to extend their professional networks.

CT Academy: Management Track

Classroom learning | In-person with virtual components
Eligibility: Experienced CT-FIN or CT-IAU 2s or CT-EAV 4s, or newly-appointed CT-FIN or CT-IAU 3s or CT-EAV 5s
Number of spots: 16

The CT Academy: Management Track is for members who are new in supervisory roles or those about to take on such responsibilities. Typically, these are members at experienced CT-FIN or CT-IAU 2s or CT-EAV 4s, or they are newly-appointed CT-FIN or CT-IAU 3s or CT-EAV 5s. 

Participants will take part in classroom courses, small-group discussions and self-directed exercises related to the following topics:

  • Communicating as a leader
  • Emotional intelligence for leaders
  • Ethical leadership
  • Essential skills for managers

Participants will also receive a personalized EQ for Leaders report and coaching session to highlight their emotional intelligence skills and areas for growth as they navigate the process of becoming a leader. 

The program will be offered in English in the Fall Term and in French in the Winter Term. Please review the eligibility criteria above before applying. Given the time commitment, please also discuss your application with your supervisor prior to applying.  

Winter Term Classroom Dates (French) 

  • Intake Session: January 19
  • EQ for Leaders: February 2 
  • Ethical Leadership: February 9
  • Communications for Leaders: February 23
  • Essential Skills for Managers: March 2

Note: Participants must be available to attend all classroom sessions. There will also be discussion groups, one-on-one sessions and self-directed work to complete through the program, with some flexibility in scheduling.  

Applications for winter courses will open in early October.

CT Academy: Data Analyst Track

Format: Six modules of online self-directed learning with the option to attend up to 5 online synchronous labs.

For each module participants are expected to:

  • Complete 1 hour of short course videos
  • Complete 2-3 hours of pre-lab exercises
  • Optional: Attend a synchronous, virtual lab session with experts from the Data Action Lab

Eligibility: Any ACFO-ACAF public service member who has completed an introduction to Power BI course or uses Power BI regularly in their work.

Number of spots: 50

CPD Hours: Up to 15 verified hours with attendance at labs. Members should be able to claim up to 25 hours spent in online training as unverified hours but no tracking is available for that work as part of this pilot.

A new version of the CT Academy: Data Analyst Track will be piloted in 2025-26, targeting members who want to develop their skills in:  

  • Data foundations
  • Data analysis and data science 
  • Visual storytelling 
  • Decision making and evaluation 

This track is addressed to members of the CT Community and aims to introduce them to the fundamentals of data literacy to empower them to become effective data stewards and data consumers.

Note: This is an updated version of the CT Academy: Data Track piloted in 2024-25.

This course is ideal for CTs who:

  • want to deepen their understanding of data foundations to improve processes;
  • work in an environment where there is an expectation that data and the outputs of data analysis and visualization are required to be shared to multiple stakeholders;
  • regularly aggregate, process, visualize and analyze data from multiple sources; or
  • seek to move beyond producing reports and develop the ability to communicate insights through compelling data stories.

Eligibility & Prerequisites

To ensure a productive and engaging learning environment, participants are expected to have prior experience with data transformation and visualization tools. This course does not provide an introduction to Power BI or other visualization software.

Required Skills

  • Intermediate Excel skills (e.g., lookups, conditional logic, pivot tables, structured references/formulas, array formulas)
  • Basic experience with data transformation tools, such as Power Query (in Power BI or Excel), or alternatives like Alteryx, Tableau Prep, etc.
  • Basic experience with data visualization tools, such as Power BI, Tableau, or ggplot2 library in R etc. which includes building, modifying charts, dashboards or other data related products

NOTE, no programming knowledge is required — while helpful, the course emphasizes practical analysis and visualization skills using common tools

If you do not yet have these skills, we encourage you to bridge the gap through self-study or training before enrolling. See the Resources for Skill Development section below for guidance.

Application process

As this is a pilot offering, participation has no impact on your eligibility for JCDP application lotteries. We’re taking applications on a first-come, first-served basis and a waitlist will be established. If you apply then have to withdraw, please make sure to let us know so we can free up a place for someone else.

The program will be offered in English in the Winter term. Given the time commitment, please discuss your application with your supervisor prior to applying.  

Apply now

Resources for Skill Development

If you are interested in this course but do not yet meet the prerequisites, the following learning options can help you prepare:

Winter Term Dates (English) 

Course opens: Monday, January 12, 2026

Lab sessions:

  • Lab 1: Thursday, January 15, 2026
  • Lab 2: Thursday, January 22, 2026
  • Lab 3: Friday, February 6, 2026
  • Lab 4: Thursday, February 19, 2026
  • Lab 5: Thursday, March 5, 2026
Apply now