Global Affairs Canada

Global Trade Commissioner Training Program

Client

Global Affairs Canada is the lead department of the Government of Canada responsible for the country’s diplomatic and consular relations, international trade, and humanitarian and development assistance. Operating under the legal framework of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, GAC serves as Canada’s face and voice on the world stage, managing a global network of over 175 offices and missions across more than 100 countries.

Slide with the title 'SERVING THE STORY' and the subtitle 'Global Affairs Canada & Digital Storytelling'. Features a graphic of interconnected circles, with one large red circle containing a white maple leaf, symbolizing Canada.
A chart titled 'Distribution Over Time' shows social activity levels over time with four key points labeled a, b, c, and d. A legend indicates these points correspond to pre-event, event coverage, post-event, and looking ahead.

Process

The world of diplomacy in the digital age is messy, crowded, and potentially very powerful. But for a large organization that is balancing policy priorities, global instability, how can they tell their own story?

A Plan for Digital Diplomacy 2.0

To be effective, Global Affairs Canada needed a cohesive content strategy. We developed toolkits to help embassy staff identify and collect stories, and guides to help storytellers improve writing, visual presentation, and a regular heartbeat of publishing and engagement.

 Diagrams and calendars helped show how the story itself could be communicated at multiple times over its development. Plans for authors and directors helped teams understand the hundreds of channels, accounts and properties under the Government of Canada's purview. 

Story content and its improvement and promotion is just one piece of a much larger picture. This project was a step on the journey towards realizing a Digital Diplomacy 2.0 vision. Follow-up workshops helped other departments learn from the standard set by Global Affairs.

Three columns with images and text about social issues in different countries. The first shows a meeting about women's rights in Northern Ghana, the second shows two girls receiving certificates in Guatemala, and the third shows a woman holding a chi
Smiling women and children sitting together outside, with text overlay about advocacy groups in Zimbabwe fighting child marriage through legal, political, and cultural tactics, March 2015.
Three news articles about child marriage: the first shows a woman writing on a whiteboard in Egypt; the second shows women in Ghana being trained as community advocates; the third shows a woman in India with a calm expression.
Three news articles with images about women's rights and child marriage in different countries, including Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Tanzania.
A webpage titled "More About Ghana" features a photo of a smiling man outdoors with a green field and trees in the background. Below, there are four links related to Ghana: Development Work in Ghana, More Stories: Canada in Ghana, Canada Fund for Loc
Text heading reads 'Working with Partners Toward Common Goals'. Below, a paragraph explains international collaboration supporting disadvantaged countries, emphasizing programs to improve the lives of women and girls. Logos of partner organizations a
Women and girls attending a social training session in a rural building in Northern Ghana, with two women wearing blue shirts with 'Women & Girls' slogan on the back, and a crowd of seated women in the background.
Infographic showing two red human icons with statistics. The first icon indicates 5% married by age 15, the second indicates 21% married by age 18. The accompanying text discusses community sensitization workshops and change agents.
Graphic displaying four girl icons, three in red and one in black, alongside a text that states, "One out of four girls in Ghana will be married before their 18th birthday."

Project

To model how Global Affairs Canada could move forward with content, we completely overhauled their key storyline and created guides to help them do it across all their story streams.

We edited almost 20 articles about Early, Forced, and Child Marriage in countries where Canada was working to help end the practice. Each story was researched, edited, and expanded to maximize its potential impact, with new and improved visuals added.

A digital resource menu with icons and text options, including a diagnostic table, FTA reference guide, list of experts, FTA website, FTA elevator pitch, and glossary, all on a dark background with a red header.
A presentation slide titled "Challenge 5: Leveraging Experts" featuring two men in a discussion, with one of them gesturing with his hand. A background of an office environment and a laptop is visible.
A man with glasses and a bald head, wearing a suit jacket and shirt, looking downward in an indoor setting with a brown wall background and a framed picture.
Three young adults sitting at a table in a modern conference or co-working space, engaged in a discussion or review of documents, with other people working in the background.
A young man with light brown hair and a beard, wearing a dark blazer and a light striped shirt, standing indoors against a brown wall with framed art.
A young man with short, styled hair speaking in a close-up shot, wearing a white collared shirt and a dark sweater against a brown wall with a framed picture.

Results

The result was a bilingual, interactive virtual learning Component that provided Global Affairs’ 6,000 employees with the foundational knowledge, skills, and resources needed to effectively advise clients on leveraging Canada's FTAs, successfully transitioning capacity building from a limited in-person model to an accessible, scalable online platform.

Development

  • Research

  • Messaging

  • Brand Identity

Brand Expressions

  • Online Education Platform

  • Video Series

Partners