Questions we are asked most

Yes. Every roadmap, guide, template and event is free, and there is nothing to upgrade to. The centre is funded by an operating grant, a small endowment and contributions from partner organisations. We take no advertising and publish no sponsored material, which is also why you will not find product recommendations that earn us anything.

No, and there is no account to create. We deliberately do not operate member accounts, because they require us to hold personal information we have no need for. Nothing on this site is gated behind an email address.

In your own browser, on the device you are using, and nowhere else. We never receive it. The practical consequence is that your ticks will not appear on a different device, and they will disappear if you clear your browsing data or use private browsing. If you want a record that survives, print the roadmap and mark it on paper — several regular readers do exactly that. See cookies and local storage for the detail.

No advertising, no advertising networks, no cross-site tracking and no social media pixels. We keep aggregate figures on which pages are read so we know what to improve, and those figures cannot identify you. The privacy notice sets out exactly what is collected.

Yes, in your browser, alongside the progress trackers. Dark mode follows your device setting the first time you visit and then remembers whatever you choose. High contrast and text size work independently of it, so you can combine them however suits you.

The one connected to a decision you face this quarter, rather than the one matching a longer-term ambition. In a first job, that is usually Early career foundations. Facing a move into a lead role, Leadership development. Unsure, or wanting the broadest return for the least time, Communication skills — it is the shortest path we publish and it improves almost every role. The comparison table settles most remaining cases, and the support desk will happily suggest one if you describe your situation in a few sentences.

You can, and we would gently advise against it. Skills consolidate through repeated practice in one area, and running several paths at once reliably produces several abandoned paths. Finishing one short roadmap is worth considerably more than starting three good ones.

Forty to sixty minutes of reading, plus a practice task designed to fit inside ordinary work rather than to be added on top of it. The estimated completion times assume one stage a week, which is the pace at which material tends to stick. Slower is fine. Much faster usually means the practice is being skipped, which is the part that does the work.

This is the most common message we receive, and it is almost never a motivation problem. Two things usually fix it. First, book the time in your calendar before you choose the material — protected time is scarce, material is not. Second, halve your intended scope: one stage a fortnight, finished, beats one a week, abandoned in March. The continuous learning roadmap is written specifically for this pattern.

No. We are not an accrediting body and we do not issue certificates, because a certificate from an organisation with no assessment process would not mean anything. What our material can do is help you build evidence of capability — work you have done, changes you made, feedback you received — which is what hiring panels and managers actually respond to.

We cannot provide individual career counselling or document review — a team of seven cannot do it at the scale we are asked, and doing it badly would be worse than not doing it. We can suggest which materials fit your situation, and we can point you to provincial employment services, settlement agencies and accredited career practitioners, several of which offer free appointments. Ask the support desk and we will find the nearest one.

Largely, yes. The examples, conventions and terminology are written for Canadian workplaces, and our events run on Eastern Time, but the underlying skills travel. Where practice differs meaningfully by jurisdiction — employment standards being the clearest case — we point to the official source rather than generalising.

Yes, and every page is styled for it — navigation, search and footer links are removed automatically when you print. The printable resources section covers paper sizes and the print settings that give the cleanest result.

Yes, for non-commercial teaching, training and study, provided Wiltimply is credited and the material is not altered in ways that change its meaning. Libraries, employment centres, settlement agencies and post-secondary programmes across Canada do this regularly. For anything more substantial — translation, adaptation, inclusion in a paid programme — write to us; we usually say yes, and we like to know where the material ends up. The terms of use set out the full position.

Yes, at no charge. We produce large print, plain text and tagged PDF versions of any material, usually within five business days. Ask the support desk, or see the accessibility statement for the full list of what we can provide and how to request it.

Tell us. We correct errors quickly and record what changed at the foot of the affected page. Corrections from readers are one of the most useful things we receive, and they are never unwelcome — including the ones that point out we have written something confusing rather than something false.

Our editorial team drafts it, working from practice, published research and interviews. Every guide is then reviewed by at least two people who currently do the work described, edited for plain language, checked for accessibility, and revisited at least annually. The educational standards section describes the process in full, including what we will not publish.

Please do. Most of what we publish began as a question at the support desk or in a workshop. The suggestions that turn into material tend to be specific situations rather than broad subjects — “how do I tell my manager the deadline is unrealistic” produces better material than “communication”.

Email the support desk with the session name, or telephone during business hours. We ask only for a name and, for in-person sessions, any access requirements. We do not ask for employer details and we do not add anyone to a mailing list unless they ask.

Yes. We hold a small number of places back for late registrations, and there are usually a few cancellations in the final week. If a session genuinely fills, we add a repeat when demand justifies it.

Online seminars are recorded and published with slides and notes within a week. Workshops are not, because people discuss real situations from their own workplaces and speak more freely when nothing is being filmed. The materials from workshops are published instead.

Yes, on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM, with no appointment needed. It is a quiet room with printed copies of everything on this site, a few tables, and someone from the support desk on hand if you want to talk something through. Suite 410, 240 Rideau Street, Ottawa — the building is step-free with an accessible washroom on the same floor.

We run a limited number each term for libraries, employment centres, settlement agencies, unions and post-secondary programmes across Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, at no charge. Sessions are educational and never promotional. Write to the support desk with your audience, numbers and topic, and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right people for it.