CONNECT Enticed Jocelyne to Move across the Country to Help Redesign Lives in Parksville, BC.
After years building programs and supporting families in Ottawa, Ontario, Jocelyne Boileau is beginning a new chapter on Vancouver Island.
This June, Jocelyne joins CONNECT Parksville as Leader of People, Culture and Services, bringing with her extensive leadership experience in community care, team development, and multidisciplinary services.
Currently serving as Director of Operations at ACT Learning Centre in Ottawa, Jocelyne has helped build the organization helping children, youth, and families access support through speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, applied behaviour analysis, and mental health services. She wraps up her role at ACT on May 29 before heading west for a cross-country road trip to British Columbia. She officially starts at CONNECT on June 15.
For Jocelyne, the move represents more than a career change — it’s a chance to align purpose, community, and lifestyle.
“Two things I love most about this opportunity are coaching a team and being of service to the community,” says Jocelyne. “The culture at CONNECT and the opportunity to help others redesign their lives to be as full as they desire really speaks to me.”
Jocelyne’s personal journey with sobriety has taught her about the resilience required to redesign a life, and the power of community.
Uprooting her life and jumping into an adventure with CONNECT was not an easy decision, but one she says she feels ready and able to do.
The decision to relocate was inspired in part by her husband, who has already been working on Vancouver Island as a plumber for stretches at a time. With close friends in Nanaimo offering a temporary home base, the transition felt increasingly right.
“At 40, I’m ready for a big life change,” she says. “I also believe in fate. I only applied to a few places, and the opportunity at CONNECT just kept moving down the track. It feels aligned.”
Her connection to British Columbia actually began decades ago. A family trip to BC when she was 16 years old left a lasting impression.
“I remember leaving in tears and thinking, ‘I’m going to live here one day.’”
Thirty years later, that vision is becoming reality.
Outside of work, Jocelyne enjoys hiking, board sports, and spending time outdoors — passions she’s eager to pursue on the West Coast. She has also served for the past five years as a volunteer Board Director with Unbroken Recovery, a commitment she hopes to continue from BC.
As CONNECT prepares to open this fall in Parksville, Jocelyne is excited to help build the team of coaches who will make life redesign happen in that community and beyond.