NewsDec 18, 2025

RGD’s Year in Review: 2025

This year marked progress across several initiatives, including the launch of the RGD’s Accessibility website, the return of the Designathon program and the release of the Creative Earners Salary Survey results.

RGD’s 2025 in numbers 

Membership

4,425 total Members
60 new Certified RGDs
148 Committee and Board Members
13 Virtual Communities with 623 members
18,424 messages sent in the RGD's Slack Community with 1,594 participating Members

Communications

24 RGD Word e-newsletters sent to 22,416 subscribers
63,969 followers across Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube
88 jobs and 4 RFPs posted to the RGD Job Board
40,700 total downloads of our DesignThinkers Podcast
10 presentations to school groups across Canada
Media coverage from NPR, Strategy, Campaign Canada, Little Black Book, Billboard Canada, AZURE and more

Events

2,224 attendees at 38 webinars
2,534 attendees at DesignThinkers conferences (1,947 in Toronto; 587 in Vancouver)
579 attendees at 23 local events in Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton, London, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver
247 attendees at an In-House Design Conference (in-person and streaming)
66 attendees at two events for design educators
$13,500 in cash scholarships and free passes to assist 19 Members to attend RGD conferences

Awards

66 Branding Awards Winners
20 Student Award Winners and 95 Honourable Mentions
4 Trailblazer Award Winners
$22,000 raised from industry partners to support the Student & Trailblazer Awards

Mentorship

142 Mentee/Mentor matches made as part of the RGD’s various Mentorship Programs
276 one-on-one portfolio reviews as part of four Virtual Career Weeks

RGD’s 2025 highlights

Perhaps more importantly, the RGD continued to advocate on behalf of the profession and raise the profile of graphic design across Canada. In 2025, the RGD:

Overhauled the RGD’s Certification Process with customized paths for visual designers, experience designers, design managers and design educators.
Increased XD content at RGD in-person events, webinars and newsletter/web content after launching a new XD Advisory Working Group in 2024.
Organically grew the RGD’s Instagram following by 102% and LinkedIn by 12% by posting useful, relatable and inspiring content.
Ratified a new section for the Code of Ethics focused on AI.
Launched a new Accessibility website.
Launched two new seasons of the DesignThinkers Podcast, featuring interviews with speakers from DesignThinkers 2025 in Vancouver (Season 2) and Toronto (Season 3).
Hosted two special events for design educators as part of our two DesignThinkers Conferences: a Western Design Educators Summit with Capilano University in Vancouver and a Design Educators Conference in Toronto, hosted by George Brown College.
Launched the 2024/2025 Creative Earners report.
Continued focus on local events in cities across Canada.
Continued a workshop series presented by Eleni Beveratou in six cities across Canada (launched in 2024).
Expanded our Virtual Communities to include ones for Newcomers to Canada, Design Educators and In-house Designers working in Post-Secondary Education.
Launched a new “Real World Skills for Creatives” webinar series.
Re-launched our Designathon program as an in-person event with support from studios in Vancouver (hcma + one23West), Toronto (Creative Currency + Q30 Design) and Moncton (Creative Union).
Launched the second edition of our Branding Awards.
Reprinted the RGD Handbook, bringing the total copies in print to 23,000.
Received design/branding support from Canadian Tire (In-House Design Conference), Context Creative (RGD website), Creative Currency (Creative Earners), Hambly + Woolley (Student Awards), Laura Prpich RGD (Certification Sticker), Mangrove Web (Accessibility website), The Garden (DesignThinkers), George Brown College Students with creative direction by Kristine Do (Design Educators Conference), ZAK (Branding Awards)

Initiatives to look forward to in 2026

Continuation of the RGD’s media strategy to secure coverage about the Association, its initiatives and the value of the graphic design profession in Canada.
Sharing more entertaining, useful and relatable social media content that solidifies the RGD’s position as Canada’s leading design association.
A new scholarship program to support continuing education in accessible design by RGD’s professional Members.
The creation of a new contract template for Member use.
Formalized partnerships with organizations in related disciplines and jurisdictions across North America and beyond to expand the RGD’s reach and provide added benefits for RGD Members.
Further development of content, programming and relevance for XD designers.
Expansion of the RGD’s Virtual Communities with more guest speakers and more communities for designers working in specialized sectors and disciplines.
New seasons of the DesignThinkers Podcast.
Expanded interactive programming at both DesignThinkers Conferences.
Additional expansion of local events, with more events in more cities.

2026 in-person events (add RGD events to your calendar)

DesignThinkers Vancouver*, May 26–27
Design Educators Conference in partnership with Wilson School of Design in Vancouver, May 28
DesignThinkers Toronto*, October 20-21
In-House Design Conference* in Toronto and live-streaming, June 16
In-House Design Conference* in Calgary and live-streaming, November 26.

2026 virtual events

Webinars, beginning January 8
Virtual Career Weeks, February 2–7, April 20-25, June 22-27 & November 16–21
* Live-streaming of both DesignThinkers Conferences & the In-House Design Conference