Category: Member Events

Webinar | Supporting Apprentices with Learning Barriers: Insights from Canada’s Virtual Learning Strategy

Since 2019, Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS) Canada has been supporting trades apprentices who experience learning barriers — helping them progress in their training and succeed in the skilled trades.

Learning barriers can take many forms. For some apprentices, they are related to neurodiversity, including learning disabilities or ADHD. For others, challenges stem from gaps in foundational skills such as reading, writing, math, technical knowledge, or effective study strategies. Left unaddressed, these barriers can slow progress, increase attrition, and limit access to certification.

VLS works with apprentices to identify the root causes of learning challenges and provides tailored, learner-centred supports that respond to individual needs. The result is more confident learners, stronger progression through apprenticeship, and better outcomes for both apprentices and the system as a whole.

This webinar will explore:

• • The lived experiences of apprentices facing learning barriers

• • The types of supports that make a meaningful difference

• • Lessons learned from VLS’s national pilot

• • What the future of inclusive apprentice learning could look like in Canada

Whether you are an employer, training provider, policymaker, or system partner, this session offers practical insights into how inclusive learning supports can strengthen apprenticeship outcomes.

GUEST SPEAKERS:

Dr. Lori Leach
Director, Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS) Canada

Dr. Lori Leach is passionate about inclusion, technology, and adult learning. She holds an interdisciplinary PhD spanning sociology and adult education and brings more than twenty years of experience in research, program development, and project management focused on access and inclusion.

Lori spent twelve years working as a therapeutic counsellor and has dedicated much of her career to supporting individuals facing barriers to learning and participation. Over the past decade, she has led strategic initiatives within the Apprenticeship Branch of the Government of New Brunswick, supporting apprentices with learning barriers, Indigenous learners, newcomers to Canada, and women in the trades.

Since 2019, Lori has served as Director of the Virtual Learning Strategy Program, which helps apprentices identify their learning profiles and access customized supports that address essential skills gaps and learning disabilities. The program is supported by the federal government and is currently implemented across nearly all apprenticeship authorities in Canada, as well as in industry and workplace settings.

Lori is also a long-time sessional professor at the University of New Brunswick, teaching courses in gender and technology, the sociology of technology, and women in STEM.

Dr. Corinna McFeaters
Program Development and Research Lead, Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS) Canada

Dr. Corinna McFeaters began her career as a clinical mental health counsellor, working with children and adults experiencing challenges related to learning, attention, and mental health. She later completed her PhD in Experimental Psychology at the University of New Brunswick, where she conducted research and taught courses focused on how the human brain processes information.

Corinna has been involved with VLS since its early development, playing a key role in shaping the program’s online tools and contributing to the research that underpins its approach. She joined VLS full-time in 2022, where she continues to support program innovation, development, and analysis, helping ensure that VLS remains responsive, evidence-informed, and learner-centred.

Who Should Attend

• • Employers and industry partners

• • Training providers and educators

• • Apprenticeship system leaders and policymakers

• • Organizations supporting equity-priority learners

• • Anyone interested in inclusive approaches to apprenticeship training

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Format: Live webinar
Date: February 23, 2026
Time: 1:00PM ET

This webinar is available exclusively to CAF-FCA members. Please log in to register.

Not a member? Join here.