Rosemary Toscani, B.Sc. (Hons), C.V.P., R.R.P.
Executive Director
Rosemary Toscani founded CareerQuest Inc. in 1999. While working as a case manager for long term disability claims, she had identified serious gaps in the services provided to individuals undertaking vocational rehabilitation that were preventing them from achieving successful outcomes:
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As Rosemary believed these areas were all integral to ensuring a successful outcome to any return to work plan, she started CareerQuest with a mission of bringing superior levels of knowledge, integrity, professionalism, and cost-effectiveness to the industry.
Rosemary is a Certified Vocational Professional and a Registered Rehabilitation Professional who possesses three Bachelor of Science degrees: one in Psychology, one in Biology (specializing mainly in Neurocognitive Processes), and one in Exceptionality in Human Learning, all obtained from the University of Toronto.
For approximately seven years, Rosemary held the position of Coordinator for the Psychology and Impulse Control Disorders Programs at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), formerly known as the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. She was responsible for both clinical and research endeavours while developing various programs for the community's most difficult clients, including criminal offenders. She was also directly involved in developing and delivering international conferences that provided continuing education opportunities for hundreds of professionals in the field. While in this role, she acquired formal training in the administration of standardized testing for an extensive number of psychological and educational assessment tools designed for use with a variety of populations.
In 1994, Rosemary joined Lacroix, Scher Consultants in Toronto where she spent over four years developing a firm understanding of psychometric properties while she conducted hundreds of neuropsychological, psychovocational, and academic assessments. Conducting these assessments allowed her to be involved in developing academic, ESL, and computer skills training programs targeted to individuals presenting with physical, emotional and/or learning challenges. Rosemary was also involved in the development and delivery of a non-dominant hand training program that has helped a great number of people achieve dominant hand transference and return to competitive employment.
In 1998, Rosemary decided to turn her knowledge and experience in many areas of vocational rehabilitation to providing case management services for individuals on long term disability insurance. It was at this time she became acutely aware of the lack of high quality service providers available in the field. CareerQuest was founded to fill this void, and the organization has become an industry leader in providing successful and cost-effective solutions through a knowledgeable team of instructors, program coordinators, psychometrists, and kinesiologists, all of whom are directed by a professional and experienced management team.
Despite the demands on her time from managing an operation such as CareerQuest, Rosemary volunteers her services in a number of ways. She serves on the Conflict Resolution Committee for the Ministry of Community and Social Services Employment Supports Program and contributes as one of a three-member panel that makes recommendations to the Ministry in situations of dispute. In addition, she often hosts meetings of service providers active in the community in an effort to work collaboratively with other professionals, identify gaps in service, and discuss solutions to improve the overall state of the industry. Finally, she recently carried out responsibilities as a Board Director for the Vocational Rehabilitation Association where she furthered the Education Committee's strategic plans and helped to organize conferences.
Tracey Bowie, B.A., R.R.P., C.V.P.
Vocational Rehabilitation Services Manager
Tracey joined CareerQuest Inc. in March 2012 as an Employment Specialist after twelve years of progressive experience in vocational rehabilitation and claims disability management. In May 2012 Tracey was promoted to Vocational Rehabilitation Services Manager. Tracey has worked extensively on a wide variety of initiatives within the provincial government, private and non-profit sectors in order to achieve successful work reintegration outcomes for persons with physical, psychological and emotional disabilities.
Tracey received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from McMaster University. After working for a year as a Program Coordinator with a community based mental health program in the Peel region, she accepted a position with the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) as a vocational rehabilitation caseworker. In this role, Tracey became familiar with various rehabilitation practices and developed strong skills related to developing and monitoring early and safe return to work plans, vocational rehabilitation assessments, transferable skills analysis, job search training, and developing and monitoring vocational rehabilitation plans. This role provided a solid foundation of experience for work with adults who had suffered physical, cognitive, and psychological impairment. After six years there, Tracey subsequently spent approximately 7 years with Sibley & Associates Inc. as a vocational rehabilitation consultant. In this role, she assisted clients who were referred as part of WSIB's Labour Market Re-Entry Program. In this position she was able to continue to develop her skills in the areas of vocational rehabilitation and disability management.
Tracey is very excited to be working as part of the team at CareerQuest, where she is able to apply her various skills and experiences in her role as Vocational Rehabilitation Services Manager.