- Promote the principles and priorities on the integration of immigrants among colleges and institutes by
capitalizing on ACCC initiatives and activities including:
- The development of a section of the ACCC Website that profiles the programs and services
immigrants can access at colleges and institutes that will be integrated into the Government of
Canada Immigration Portal.
- The upcoming ACCC Conference in Saskatoon, with college/institute CEOs, the ACCC Board,
regional caucuses, and well as college/institute faculty and staff through the conference session
to be delivered by representatives from George Brown College and Bow Valley College.
- The International Student Symposium to take place just before the Saskatoon conference will
also address some of the issues raised at the roundtable.
- The Student Leadership Network is focusing on community partnerships as such the mentor
and peer helper programs could possibly be promoted with them.
- The sector study of colleges and institutes as employers which will be carried out in 2004 with
funding from HRSDC. This study will collect data on the diversity of the workforce within
colleges and institutes and how it reflects the diversity of the student body.
- Focus some advocacy efforts on increasing the awareness of the high level government committees created
to address the integration of immigrants, namely the Deputy Ministers’ and Directors General Committees on
Integrating Immigrants into the Labour Market and the Assistant Deputy Minister Federal/Provincial/Territorial
Committee which has a meeting planned in June 2004. These committees provide a good opportunity to
position colleges and institutes for future funding opportunities.
- Foster collaboration with the Ontario CONNECT project and possibly expand the project to other provinces if
government funding can be provided. This project will look at the ways Ontario colleges and institutes can
remove the barriers that skilled immigrants face as a result of the education system, resources and structures
that were not designed to meet their diverse needs. The project will also identify best practices and transition
models to determine how the Ontario system should be adjusted to improve access and allow immigrants to
progress through college/institute programs and enter the labour market.
- Explore funding options for the Accelerated Integration Program for Immigrants project that explores how
colleges and universities can offer initial integration services from some of their overseas sites.
- Collaborate with other partners working on the integration of immigrants, namely the Maytree Foundation,
Sector Councils and Affinity Group Leaders, in particular for sectors that are looking to immigration as a
solution to meet skills shortages (environment, technology, trucking, tourism, construction), as well as
provincial and community immigrant settlement organizations.