Britt-Mari Sykes

Career Counsellor

Britt-Mari Sykes, Ph.D., is a Career Counsellor and Consultant, a Career Development Practitioner (CDP), and the founder of CANVAS Career Counselling. She is a member of Career Professionals of Canada and received the 2024 Outstanding Career Professional Award of Excellence. She holds certifications as a Career Strategist (CCS), Work-Life Strategist (CWS), Employment Strategist (CES), Interview Strategist (CIS), and Résumé Strategist (CRS).

Britt-Mari has supported a diverse range of clients across Canada for over 16 years, assisting those facing career changes, burnout, or feeling unfulfilled, as well as individuals exploring new work options later in life. She also works with emerging young leaders, senior leaders managing multigenerational teams, and career development practitioners seeking mentorship and guidance.

Britt-Mari brings an existential and experiential approach to career counselling, guiding clients to explore their relationship with work and careers, reflect on their experiences, choices, and decisions, and develop practical, meaningful next steps. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa and specializes in existential and experiential psychotherapies.

Britt-Mari is the author of Questioning Psychological Health and Well-Being (2010), a historical and contemporary exploration of the meaning of psychological health and development. She is a senior-level executive contributor for Brainz Magazine. Currently, she is working on her second book, a collection of essays on the meaning of career and our relationship with work from an existential perspective in career counselling.

In addition to her private practice, Britt-Mari has presented at conferences across Canada, the USA, and Europe on topics such as human development, ethics in everyday life, and the value of work. She continues to teach as a sessional and guest lecturer in university classrooms on the history and development of existential psychology and the theory of Existential Analysis.

Committed to lifelong learning and professional growth, she regularly participates in workshops and certificate programs on Existential Analysis, Trauma-Informed Care, and Narrative Therapy. Actively engaged in community service, Britt-Mari currently volunteers as a Certification Assessor with Career Professionals of Canada and, for 8 years, volunteered with the Discover Year program (a structured gap-year initiative).