Portfolio Development Program

Woman creating her professional portfolio

The Portfolio Development Program is free and available online across Canada to military and Veteran spouses as a joint venture between Military Family Services and the Trenton MFRC.

Customized for military spouses, discover an online, accredited, eight-week program for jobseekers, students and entrepreneurs, and those in or considering career transition. Assess your experience, showcase your talents, and match your workplace skills to job market needs.

Consider enrolling in this program if you are thinking about a career change, seeking new job opportunities, relocating or recently moved, applying for a promotion, starting a business venture, or augmenting your education.

Upon completing the program, you may submit your portfolio for assessment and apply to receive a joint certificate from Loyalist College and Trenton MFRC.

For further details about the program, watch the optional Introductory Session “Portfolio…Is it for you?”

Session 1: Career Exploration
Whether you're exploring new opportunities, considering a shift, or just want a fresh perspective, this session is for you! Join us as we explore the benefits of using RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) to enhance your career trajectory and discover some powerful tools along the way.
Session 2: Career Roadmap
Feeling overwhelmed or stuck? This session helps you cut through the noise and get clear on what you really want and how RPL can help. Join us as we build a step-by-step roadmap through setting meaningful goals and creating doable plans of action.
Session 3: Harness Your Potential
Showcase your transferrable skills. Join us as we tap into how prior learning is abundant in every aspect of our lives. Discover how it can help with your career journey. Join us as we delve deeper to embrace and leverage the learning we already have.
Session 4: Career Power Match
In today’s competency-driven job market, knowing how to leverage your transferable skills, competencies, and prior learning is key to standing out. Join us to discover how to align your unique talents and confidently prove you're the perfect fit.
Session 5: Working Session
Time, space, and permission to absorb, this working session gives us a much-needed break from the curriculum with a chance to catch up, ask questions, and take deeper dives into all portfolio elements covered so far. This session is not mandatory but has been proven to increase portfolio completion success.

Offered to those who have attended the previous session(s).
Session 6: Career Storytelling
From transferable skills to transferable learning, you have a lot to offer! But sometimes articulating it can be hard. From interview answers to proving your competencies, narratives are a must-have. Join us as we explore narrative writing and how to attain excellent letters of verification.
Session 7: Resume & Cover Letters
Tip, tricks, tactics, and templates. With a focus on RPL and an ever-changing job market, join us for a deep dive into resumes and cover letters and discover what you need to know!
Session 8: Power Pitch
From polishing up your portfolio to discovering effective presentation tools designed to give you the power to confidently present in academic or employment interviews, entrepreneurial presentations, and more.

Duration

2 hours per week for 8 weeks (virtual).

Eligibility

Spouses/partners of Canadian Armed Forces members (Regular Force and Reserves) and spouses of Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Cost

Free

Registration

New This Year: Choose Your Path! We’re excited to offer two ways to participate in the Portfolio Development Program:

Full Program Track: Sign up once and get access to all sessions from start to finish. No need to register for each one individually—just show up and grow your portfolio step by step!

À la Carte Sessions: Prefer to pick and choose? Now you can register for individual sessions that match your interests or schedule. Perfect if you’re looking for targeted support or a refresher on specific topics.

Note: If you’re registered for the full program, you’re automatically enrolled in all sessions—no need to sign up separately.

Questions

Contact Elizabeth Nicholas, Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP), Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL), Certified Career Development Practitioner/Professional (CCDP) and Virtual Employment and Education Specialist at the Trenton MFRC.

Career Exploration

20 Oct 2025,
10 am - 12 pm (ET)

Whether you're exploring new opportunities, considering a shift, or just want a fresh perspective, this session is for you! Join us as we explore the benefits of using RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) to enhance your career trajectory and discover some powerful tools along the way.

Career Roadmap

27 Oct 2025
10 am - 12 pm (ET)

Feeling overwhelmed or stuck? This session helps you cut through the noise and get clear on what you really want and how RPL can help. Join us as we build a step-by-step roadmap through setting meaningful goals and creating doable plans of action.

Join us

Harness Your Potential

3 Nov 2025
10 am - 12 pm (ET)

Showcase your transferrable skills. Join us as we tap into how prior learning is abundant in every aspect of our lives. Join us as we delve deeper to embrace and leverage the learning we already have.

Career Power Match

10 Nov 2025
10 am - 12 pm (ET)

In today’s competency-driven job market, knowing how to leverage your transferable skills, competencies, and prior learning is key to standing out. Join us to discover how to align your unique talents and confidently prove you're the perfect fit.

Join us

Career Storytelling

24 Nov 2025
10 am - 12 pm (ET)

From transferable skills to transferable learning, you have a lot to offer! But sometimes articulating it can be hard. From interview answers to proving your competencies, narratives are a must-have. Join us as we explore narrative writing and how to attain excellent letters of verification.

Resumes & Cover Letters

01 Dec 2025
10 am - 12 pm (ET)

Tip, tricks, tactics, and templates. With a focus on RPL and an ever-changing job market, join us for a deep dive into resumes and cover letters and discover what you need to know!

Let’s go!

Power Pitch

08 Dec 2025
10 am - 12 pm (ET)

From polishing up your portfolio to discovering effective presentation tools designed to give you the power to confidently present in academic or employment interviews, entrepreneurial presentations, and more.

Ready to shine? register now

Military Spouse, Halifax

“The course was absolutely amazing!!! This course was very inspirational, confirmed my step-by-step process for a career transition, and I'm happy to share that I've secured employment in the sector I was hoping to enter into :).”

Military Spouse, Borden

“This session empowered me to appreciate and articulate the skills I already have!”

Military Spouse, Greenwood

"I found the positive support of the facilitators to be very helpful and motivation. I valued the knowledge and insight into how to find our value and to prove our worth. That was a significant highlight for me. Thank you so much for guidance and time."

Military Spouse, Esquimalt

"This was an incredibly informative program, it puts my strategy in perspective. I didn't know what to expect coming in so I was very receptive to anything I learn. I'm glad I registered and I will take what I learned with me in my day-to-day. It couldn't have come in a better time as I'm doing my first intensive performance review in a couple of weeks and this has helped me leverage my current skills and experiences to ask for what I am worth."

Military Spouse, Cold Lake

"So much advice and assistance. Extremely valuable! And well worth the time, even if it’s just for yourself."

Military Spouse, Esquimalt

"I liked doing this workshop in a group. It's nice to see I'm not alone in this. Really helpful and very encouraging."

Military Spouse, Shilo

"What I liked most about the portfolio program was the identification of transferrable skills, and narratives."

Military Spouse, Kingston

"The program taught us how to quantify our experience, draw out our skills and record them in a way that a complete stranger could understand and appreciate."

Military Spouse, North Bay

"I discovered things about my skills and values I didn't know about."

Military Spouse, Trenton

"This course allowed me to be confident in my skills and how to showcase my skills to potential employers."

See the MFS Spousal Employment Support Services Privacy Notice HERE.

Portfolio Development Program

The Portfolio Development Program is Back—with a Fresh New Look!

Duration

Eligibility

Cost

Registration