Language can be a great barrier to employment. In fact, nearly one-third of B.C.’s immigrants say they are employed at a lower level than they were in their country of origin.
English language training is essential to opening doors to better employment opportunities and making their new life in Canada successful. That is why the provincial government is providing $76,916 for English language training on the North Shore to support newcomers who are looking for work.
The province is teaming with MOSAIC and its partner, the North Shore Multicultural Society, to provide the training, which is intended to help immigrants overcome language barriers when seeking employment. Gaining these additional skills will increase their employability and allow them more opportunity to move to other jobs or access additional skills training in the future.
“MOSAIC is very pleased to be partnering with the province and the North Shore Multicultural Society to offer Workplace English classes on the North Shore for the first time,” said Eyob Naizghi, executive director of MOSAIC.
Training will prepare participants for employment in a high-demand industry, sector or occupation that is currently experiencing, or is expected to experience, an imminent labour or skills shortage over the next 12 months.
Examples of this type of training include:
■ English for Health Professionals
■ Professional Communication for Internationally Educated Nurses
■ Retail Sales Associate Language Training Program
■ Language Training for Fire Protection Technicians
The Project Based Language Training program is aimed to help newcomers with professional-level skills overcome language barriers so they can get employed in high-demand jobs.
Overall funding of $2.6 million is being given province-wide to help approximately 1,200 newcomers to B.C. get the skills they need for the job market. Funding for Project Based Language
Training is provided by the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training through a partnership with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).
Learn more about what is happening in our riding of North Vancouver-Seymour by subscribing to my monthly MLA report at www.janethornthwaitemla.bc.ca/subscribe. Contact me by e-mail at [email protected], by phone at 604-983-9852, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jane.thornthwaite, on Twitter at @jthornthwaite, or stop by my constituency office at 217-1233 Lynn Valley Rd.
