Now that summer has officially arrived, I hope you can take some time to relax and unwind with my ultimate guide to 2025’s best Canadian learning books. Whether you are stretched out by the water or kicking back in the city, it’s essential to recharge your batteries and connect with new ideas and innovations.
As learning professionals, we are keenly aware of the speed at which our understanding of how people learn new skills is evolving. And there’s no better way to keep current than with 2025’s fresh wave of compelling reads exploring exciting new learning perspectives.
What makes this year’s summer reading list especially compelling is the powerful Canadian presence shaping the future of learning. All of the books on this year’s list are Canadian, showcasing our ability to push learning boundaries in theory and practice. From the latest in human-centred team leadership to the proven power of workplace empathy and caring, this year’s list has something for everyone!
Check out these and many other great Canadian reads online, at your local bookstore, or library.
Book One: Re-Storying Education: Decolonizing Your Practice Using a Critical Lens
This compelling read from Indigenous academic Carolyn Roberts examines how educators can dismantle old narratives and rebuild new ones that are more accurate and inclusive. The objective is to create a more precise and decolonized understanding of all the voices that have made Canada what it is today. We are keenly aware of the value this adds to our learning projects, which is why it’s our lead among 2025’s best Canadian learning books.
The book draws on the author’s experiences as an Indigenous student, educator, and administrator in public and band-operated school systems. By examining education through an Indigenous lens, the book helps readers understand how colonialism has shaped the public school system. Readers are offered questions for self-reflection, suggestions for personal action, and resources to further a nurturing and inclusive learning journey.
Book Two: Work-Life Bloom: How to Nurture a Team That Flourishes
Looking for empowering insight into the complex and challenging process of building stronger teams? Then look no further than “Work-Life Boom: How to Nurture a Team That Flourishes.” This compelling read by award-winning Canadian author and former Chief Learning Officer at TELUS, Dan Pontefract, is much more than a business book about work-life balance.
The author’s premise is simple: Our personal and professional lives are tightly interwoven. Instead of fixating on “balance,” the author introduces the concept of “blooming.” He defines 12 unique “bloom factors” – six from work and six from life. He uses these factors to determine whether a person is in bloom, budding, surviving, or wilting. The overarching objective is to invite readers to reimagine success not as a race to the top but as a collective effort to grow together professionally and personally. If you work with teams, this book should be at the top of your list!
Book Three: Love@Work: The Final Frontier of Empathy in Leadership
If you want more than just another treatise on leadership, I’d highly recommend this latest book from executive coach and leadership strategist Dr. Corrie Jonn Block. The author suggests a seismic shift in leadership from solely focusing on strategic and operational excellence. In its place, he proposes a much more powerful tool – love. Not romantic love but empathetic, human-centred, intentional care for others in the workplace.
Delivered in a conversational yet insightful tone, the author shares numerous inspiring and motivational case studies. You will learn how leaders turned around toxic teams, how HR departments became transformational, and how CEOs learned they can prioritize wellness without sacrificing performance.
The concept of human-centred love may initially seem idealistic. However, the case studies documented are anchored in measurable outcomes and grounded in business realities. In the learning business, we all know that results matter. Love@Work demonstrates that relationships matter even more for teams looking to take their performance to the next level!
Book Four: Imagining the Post-COVID Workplace: Challenges and Opportunities
Like virtually every sector, the pandemic changed learning production and delivery. This book, co-edited by renowned Canadian scholar Julian Barling, draws a multi-dimensional portrait of workplace life beyond the pandemic era. Barling is a Distinguished University Professor and Borden Chair of Leadership at Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business. He has spent decades advancing workplace leadership research within Canadian institutions and workplaces.
Along with co-editors Neal M. Ashkanasy and Cary L. Cooper, Barling draws on leading scholars and practitioners to explain how COVID-19, inflation, and the cost-of-living crisis combined to reshape organizational dynamics.
The book moves far beyond merely documenting the impact of these events to provide actionable solutions. Readers learn viable strategies—hybrid work arrangements, stress mitigation, and career planning, to name just a few. Above all, the book emphasizes agility, resilience, and innovation as key learning imperatives.
Book Five: One Golden Summer – A Romantic Addition to 2025’s Best Canadian Learning Books!
Generally speaking, L&D pros tend to be knowledge-driven. With this year’s list, you will have plenty of new insights from some of the industry’s top minds to ponder. For my final pick of 2025’s best Canadian learning books, I’d like to switch things up with One Golden Summer. This novel is the latest from Canadian author and New York Times bestseller Carley Fortune.
The book has all the ingredients of the perfect summer read: a cottage in sunsoaked Barry’s Bay, Ontario, lots of laughter, rekindled romance, self-discovery and the power of listening to your inner voice. At the story’s center is Alice James, a Toronto-based photographer. She finds herself coping with a creative dry spell and at a personal crossroads. Unexpectedly, she reconnects with a once-reckless teen from her past. Along the way, she realizes he unknowingly inspired some of her best and most meaningful work.