WHY BECOME CERTIFIED

You may be a First Nations, Metis or Inuit practitioner, working in an unregulated occupation, providing services in areas such as addictions, mental wellness, family/community support and community development. Whatever your occupation in these fields, your professional certification highlights, recognizes and values your knowledge and skills, promotes your professionalism, and gives you the confidence and tools to reach for better career opportunities. Certification provides your employer with the assurance that, as a certified worker or specialist, you have and will maintain the necessary skills to continue to deliver the best and most appropriate services to their client

As both the literature and research have shown, certification:

• attests to the professional qualifications and competence of the Counsellor;
• defines the roles of Wellness or/and Addictions Counsellor;
• recognizes special skills, cultural/traditional and addictions specific knowledge required to work effectively within First Nations communities;
• supports standards that are recognized by various addictions counseling organizations and authorities on a national and international level; and, 
• places First Nations Wellness/Addictions Counsellors on par with their peers nationally and internationally