Last month, the Office of Community Engagement (OCE) team attended the C2UExpo 2025: Partners in Place, hosted by MacEwan University in Edmonton. With over 600 attendees from across Canada and beyond, the conference offered rich opportunities to share McMaster’s work, learn from peers, and deepen our collective understanding of what it means to do ethical, reciprocal community-engaged work.
OCE staff and partners were involved in several presentations and roundtables, all rooted in building stronger, more accountable, and more impactful community-campus relationships.
Carrie McMullin, Evan Gravely, Shahad Al-Saqqar, and community partner Jelena Vermilion (SWAP Hamilton) co-facilitated “Authentic Community Voice in Community-Engaged Research,” a hands-on session focused on how to navigate relationships with community members, and evaluating the role of intermediaries in research. Together with participants, they co-developed a reflective tool to assess how research relationships support (or miss) authentic community voice. Access the guide here.
Sarah Whitwell and Amanda Montague presented “An Exploration of Gift-Giving and Honoraria Practices,” sharing tools and strategies to support fair compensation for community members contributing to teaching and learning. Their guide, developed through focus groups with faculty, staff, and community partners, offers practical support for navigating these sometimes tricky conversations. Access the resource here.
OCE’s Academic Director of Community-Engaged Research and Relationships, Dr. Ameil Joseph along with Shahad Al-Saqqar, and our partners Joanna Habdank (SFU CERi) and Ray MacNeil (Change Lab Action Initative), hosted a roundtable on “Community Compensation and Recognition in CER.” It brought to light the systemic barriers that limit equitable payment, including the Canada Revenue Agency’s $500 research payment cap, and called for national advocacy to change the policy. Learn more and join the national advocacy effort here or reach out to Shahad Al-Saqqar (alsaqqss@mcmaster.ca).
Another presentation was “Mapping the Impact: Engaging the City and the New Landscape of Community-Engaged Learning at McMaster University.” Shahad Al-Saqqar, Jen Pearson, Anam Biabani, and Maureen Saha presented early findings from a program evaluation of the “Engaging the City” course suite within the Honours Health Sciences Program (HHSP). Drawing on perspectives from alumni, faculty, and community partners, the session examined how elements such as partnerships, ethics processes, and co-curricular opportunities have shaped student learning over 16 years. These insights are helping chart the future of community-engaged learning within the HHSP, OCE, and beyond.
Finally, Sarah Whitwell and Evan Gravely joined a national conversation on “Structures of Engagement” with colleagues from SFU and the University of Guelph, Tara Mahoney and Elizabeth Jackson. They reflected on the Research Shop and CityLAB models and their role in supporting interdisciplinary student learning and community impact.
Throughout the conference, our team connected with peers, sparked new partnerships, and returned inspired. As Karen Balcom, OCE’s Academic Director of Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning, reflected:
“Attending C2U reinforced for me the value of community and collaboration amongst the staff, faculty and community members who are doing this work across Canada and internationally. It was gratifying to really see how our work at McMaster stands up and stands out on the national stage… Another highlight was that this experience brought our team together, strengthening our connections with each other and with our partner Jelena Vermilion from SWAP and ramping up our enthusiasm for the work.”
We’re proud to represent McMaster and contribute to the growing national dialogue on community engagement and scholarship.