Announcing the CWHC Vision Framework: A Collective Statement of Who We Are

A collaboratively articulated vision statement is important to guide the work of any organization, and is particularly important for a nationally dispersed cooperative like the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, with our 6 regional centres across the country. After months of collaborative work, we are excited to announce a new Vision Framework for the CWHC — a collective statement of who we are and what we stand for. This framework reflects our shared values, purpose, and mission, and we believe it will help shape the future of the CWHC and wildlife health in Canada.

A Collectively Articulated Vision Framework

The development of this Vision Framework was truly a collective effort, with input from CWHC members from across Canada. It embodies the ideas, insights, and aspirations of our entire national team. Our new Vision Framework is a living document, designed to reflect the principles that matter most to us and to guide us as we move forward towards strategic planning and goal setting. It captures the values we hold dear as an organization dedicated to promoting wildlife health as a foundation for One Health.

Providing Tangible Direction for the Organization

While articulating our vision is important, it is equally essential that this framework provides concrete, actionable direction for the CWHC. It serves as a compass that will influence every aspect of our work — from the services we provide, to the way we collaborate with our partners, to the way we manage and share our knowledge.

We used a process developed by Google, after their extensive HR research demonstrated that effective organizational cultures give individuals “vision, value, and voice” (we’ll call this the “Google process”). This process was designed to draw a clear line between organizational values, purpose and mission, and practical strategic planning and goal setting.  For this initial stage, we chose to focus on the first parts of the Google process, (i.e., the Values, Purpose, and Mission) and then tackle strategic planning and goal setting separately.

Through this Vision Framework, our intent is to ensure that our organization stays true to its core purpose, while also providing clarity to our staff, partners, and stakeholders on how we plan to achieve our goals. This alignment between our values, purpose, and mission is vital as we move forward in our mission to advance the health of Canadian wildlife.

An Inclusive Process

One of the most important aspects of developing this Vision Framework was ensuring that the process was inclusive. We wanted to create an environment where every voice could be heard, regardless of communication style or geographic location.

Organizational visions are often created during a few hours in a meeting room (e.g., the Google process was designed to be done in two, 8 hour sessions in person). This approach wasn’t going to work for us for two reasons. First, we recognized that people prefer to contribute ideas in different ways. For example, some people work best discussing and debating in a meeting format, while others prefer to think offline and contribute in a written format. We needed an approach that would allow everyone to contribute, whatever their contribution style. Second, as the CWHC is a national organization with people from coast to coast, we weren’t going to be able to get everyone in the same room.  With over 4,400 km separating our most eastern and western teams, geography was a particular challenge! Clearly, we had to adapt the Google process to work for us, and so we chose to split up the steps and work through them over months, provide multiple avenues of providing input, and give loads of opportunity to iterate and revise as we went along.

The first step in the process was to come up with a commonly held set of “Values” and an agreed upon “Purpose” statement for the organization. Values are standards that guide our behaviour, and are expressed by our commitments, how we allocate our time, and how we operate as a team. Our Purpose is a statement on the fundamental reason that we exist.

We began with an introductory virtual discussion with CWHC folks across the country to outline the importance of the Vision Framework and how it would help guide our work in the future, and introduce the concepts of Values and Purpose. CWHC Regional Centres had the opportunity to have local discussions, and a survey was conducted so everyone in the organization could provide input. The results of these local discussions and the survey were then analyzed and collated to identify key themes. The resulting set of Values and Purpose statements were then presented to the organization in a second virtual discussion where they were discussed and finalized in a draft version.

Next, we held a virtual discussion to discuss the “Mission” statement. A good Mission is a focussed and compelling statement on what we do, and is easily communicable to others. The local discussions/survey process was repeated to collect input from across the organization. From there, we conducted another analysis, which led to the drafting of a Mission Statement.

The final stage of the process was an in-depth discussion at our Annual General Meeting (AGM), where we had the opportunity to refine and finalize the entire Vision Framework. As not everyone in the CWHC was able to come in person to the AGM, we made sure folks could join remotely.

By using multiple channels — virtual meetings, surveys, emails, and in-person discussions — we ensured that everyone had the opportunity to contribute in a way that suited them best. This inclusive approach allowed us to gather a rich diversity of perspectives and create a framework that truly represents our national organization.

The New CWHC Vision Framework

At the heart of this Vision Framework are the Values that define who we are:

• Accountability and Trust: We value earning the trust of others by keeping our promises and uphold honesty, transparency, and accountability in all our work.
• Collaboration: We believe in achieving more by working together toward common goals—“cooperation” is in our name.
• People: We value collegiality and respect for one another, our partners, and the public.
• Balance: We believe in the fundamental importance of work/life balance.
• Conservation and Biodiversity: We value the conservation of wildlife and the biodiversity of ecosystems as essential to maintaining a healthy and sustainable environment and economy.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: We value diversity of thought and experiences, and uphold the principles of equity, fairness, and inclusion for all people.
• Health: We promote One Health and holistic, sustainable solutions that address the interconnected needs of wildlife, domestic animals, plants, people, and their shared environments.
• Converting Knowledge to Action: We value gathering, interpreting, and sharing evidence-based knowledge from Western Science and Indigenous Ways of Knowing, using it to educate, innovate, and support the health of wildlife, domestic animals, and people.

Our Purpose is clear:

The CWHC exists to advance the health of Canadian wildlife, recognizing wildlife health as central to maintaining sustainable relationships among wildlife, humans, domestic animals, and the environment we share.

Our Mission is simple:

We create and use science-based knowledge, services, and solutions to promote wildlife health as a foundation for One Health, for the benefit of Canadian society and the environment.

Together, this framework provides a foundation for CWHC strategic planning and goal setting, guiding us as we work to advance the health of Canada’s wildlife.

We are excited to move forward with this Vision Framework as our guide. It will help ensure that we remain true to our values, stay aligned with our purpose, and pursue our mission with clarity and focus. This framework is a testament to the collaborative efforts of our national team, and we are grateful to everyone who contributed their time, energy, and insights throughout the process.

We are also excited to continue to work with our partners towards achieving our shared wildlife health goals. Together, we will continue to champion the health of Canada’s wildlife, fostering sustainable relationships that benefit not only wildlife but also humans and the environment we all share.