In those municipalities and regions that are just beginning to look at increasing immigration to meet skills shortage needs, colleges and institutes are at the table offering support to facilitate the integration of immigrants through language and career training. For example, Niagara College responded to the survey indicating that it had very few programs and services specifically for immigrants. However, in an informal interview the college did confirm that it has become involved in discussions with the municipality and the hotel industry in Niagara with regards to the shortage of housekeeping staff in the hotels and the integration of foreign workers and immigrants. Another example involves Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) and its involvement in an initiative in Colchester County to bring a cluster of immigrant families to that community as part of a federal government-sponsored program to settle immigrants in rural communities by settling them in groups so that they are more likely to stay and settle. The college has offered to provide integration training and support for these immigrant families.
Colleges and institutes with some of the most developed and innovative programs and services for immigrants have received funding from their provincial governments through the education and training ministries or the human resources and employment ministries. Provincial governments also directly subsidize immigrant students as employment insurance learners or through tuition-based programs.
Bow Valley College is delivering some programs funded by Alberta Human Resource and Employment. For example, the Work Experience for Immigrants program is for unemployed foreign trained professionals and is mostly attended by foreign trained engineers. This is a 16 -week program comprised of 10 weeks of in-class sessions on Canadian workplace culture, functionality, communications on the job, etc. followed by six weeks of Canadian work experience. This helps participants overcome the lack of Canadian work experience. Up to 70 percent of those who complete this program find employment directly related to their previous professions. The college runs four groups per year, with each group consisting of 34 students.
Colleges and institutes in British Columbia and Quebec have strong partnerships and are contracted by the provincial ministries responsible for the ELSA and “francisation” language training programs. In Quebec, Emploi Québec also funds projects, delivered by colleges and institutes that facilitate the integration of foreign trained professionals into the labour market.
The Colleges of Ontario Network for Education and Training (CON*NECT) has partnered and received funding from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities of Ontario for a new initiative entitled “Optimizing the Role of Colleges in Integrating Immigrants into Ontario’s Workforce.” George Brown College, Centennial College and Fanshawe College will participate as lead partners in the initial phase of the project and colleges and institutes throughout the province will have the opportunity to contribute. The project will look at the ways Ontario colleges and institutes can remove the barriers that skilled and professional immigrants face as a result of the education systems, resources and infrastructures that were not designed to meet their diverse needs. The initiative will also identify ways colleges and institutes can improve access, allow immigrants to progress through college or institute programs and facilitate entry into the workforce. Leaders in the immigration community, including The Maytree Foundation, will be involved in the project.