The significance of this definition was the suggestion that the more barriers faced in the employment process, the less ability to achieve meaningful employment. For many residents in rural and northern regions, this sadly describes what they are up against when looking for work. The EC has a difficult job to do, based on the current life conditions on most Northern reserves; nevertheless, there are some people who have been successful in the job market. Some rural and northern ECs are doing a wonderful job with few resources. To really understand the role of the EC, this literature review compared information from an international, national, provincial, and local level. This review helped identify a range of roles and the standards expected for ECs in rural and northern regions, including a glimpse at some of the barriers.

Beginning with the broad perspective, we can see that career counselling is an important role in the labour-market progression, as every developed nation has a strategy and process to address unemployment and employment. Goodman and Hansen (2005) provided some initial comparisons between countries. Their report discussed “the wide range of ways that nations are approaching the challenge of helping their citizens prepare for, find, and manage the transitions and decisions necessary in today’s global world of work” (p. 58). This quote fit with the transitional nature of finding a job and supported that basically ECs help people prepare for, find, and manage the transitions and decisions needed to be employable. Goodman and Hansen’s article introduced a presentation by Wendy Patton. Patton described the career development system in Australia and the Career Counselling occupation as: “Career development work, as a term applied across a spectrum of career-related processes, including the provision of information, counselling, curriculum, and program interventions, such as work experiences, and the coordination of events, such as career markets” (p. 58). This role definition nicely described the ECs in rural and northern regions, who tend to perform multiple functions within a smaller community.