The Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) is the national and international voice through which Canada’s colleges and institutes inform and advise various levels of government, business, industry and labour. Under the federal government’s initiative to develop an Immigration Internet Portal, ACCC received financial support from the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) to conduct a diagnostic survey of Canadian colleges and institutes programs and services for immigrants, organize a College and Institute Immigration Roundtable, and develop a section of the ACCC website that profiles the types of programs and services immigrants can access through colleges and institutes. The ACCC website will then be linked to the Government of Canada Immigration Internet Portal.
Of the 150 ACCC member colleges and institutes, 46 participated in the diagnostic survey either by responding to the survey or participating in interviews, for an overall response rate of 31 percent. The results of this diagnostic survey provide a snapshot of how colleges and institutes are meeting the needs of immigrants within their communities, including initiatives that facilitate foreign credential recognition. This report also provides an overview of the barriers faced by colleges and institutes in delivering these services, the barriers faced by immigrants trying to access these programs and services, and the lessons learned.
Colleges and institutes are delivering assessment services, language training, career and technical programs, workplace and community-based training, as well as advising and counselling services to immigrants. New Canadians are accessing the programs and services offered by colleges and institutes through the internet, word of mouth and through referrals from federal or provincial government departments or local immigrant settlement organizations.
Assessment and Foreign Credential Recognition services are offered for placement into English and French as a Second Language (ESL), English and French for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs, as well as for placement into career, technical, university preparation and applied degree programs. Over 50 percent of respondents to the diagnostic survey confirmed that they had been involved in initiatives or programs aimed at facilitating Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) or specific to immigrants’ prior employment. The diagnostic survey has confirmed that the main role that colleges and institutes play in FCR is that of a facilitator of credentialing processes through Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) services and accessing the services of provincial and national credential assessment bodies.
Language training is one of the essential first steps in facilitating the integration of immigrants into Canadian society. Up to 71 (or almost 50 percent) of colleges and institutes located in cities across the country offer English as a Second Language (ESL) and French as a Second Language (FSL) programs, including English and French for academic purposes. Seventeen institutions are offering federally and provincially funded language programs, either Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) funded through Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), English Language Services for Adults (ELSA) in British Columbia funded through the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women’s Services in British Columbia, or the “Francisation” program in Quebec funded by the Ministère des relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration (MRCI).