The Canadian federal government has announced CAN$10.5 million of funding for English as a Second Language (ESL) programmes for new migrants in British Columbia (BC), as part of a wider move to centralise management of services for new immigrants.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is in the process of negotiating contracts with not-for-profit agencies and a limited number of post-secondary institutions in BC, through which ESL training will be delivered.
“While it may be possible for other organisations to provide a facsimile product it will, in our opinion, not be the same level of instruction and support”
Despite funding cuts to the ESL programmes in BC, money has been allocated to 17 public post-secondary institutions to allow them to transition to the new model, based on applications for support for settlement projects submitted last July.
Of those institutions, Vancouver Community College will receive the largest grant of CAN$4.67 million. Camosun College will receive CAN$1.43 million.
Geoff Wilmshurst, Director of Camosun, told The PIE News that the institution is “fortunate” to have received funding that will allow the immigrant programme to continue for another year. “It provides us with the time and opportunity to think about how we may be able to continue serving this important language learner community,” he said.
However, he continued: “Camosun has prided itself in providing the highest level of ESL instruction and while it may be possible for other organisations to provide a facsimile product it will, in our opinion, not be the same level of instruction and support.”
When colleges and universities were told in December that provincial funding would end at the end of March 2014, there was some uncertainty as to how funding would operate.
At this point the provincial government was “still waiting for an official decision” on Canada’s plans for ESL training, according to a statement by BC’s advanced education minister Amrik Virk.
The funding cuts amounting to CAN$17 million, which paid for more than 9,000 ESL students to learn English tuition-free last year.
The move to centralise services across the country – with the exception of Quebec – means provinces can no longer manage their own language training and jobs programmes for recent immigrants.
“The Government of Canada remains committed to helping new Canadians integrate and successfully participate in our economy, which is why it is resuming the direct management of federally-funded settlement programs in British Columbia on April 1, 2014 – to ensure consistency across the country, outside of Quebec,” a CIC spokesperson told The PIE News.
“We are not only committed to ensuring that each region of Canada receives a fair share of funding, but also that immigrants have access to the same level of services, including language training such as ESL courses, regardless of where they choose to settle.”
CIC indicated that Canada has “significantly” increased settlement funding across Canada from less than CAN$200 million in 2005-06 to around CAN$600 million this year.
The money has been allocated to 17 public post-secondary institutions to allow them to transition to the new model
In 2013-14 Manitoba received CAN$39.7 million to fund its settlement services, CAN$3.2 million more than the previous fiscal year.
On announcing funding changes to ESL provision in Manitoba in 2012, MP Shelly Glover, speaking on behalf of Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, said: “We have made important changes to restore fairness in settlement funding by moving to a funding model based on the percentage of immigrants each province or territory receives.”
Looking to the future, Wilmshurst stressed the importance of settlement services, saying: “New immigrants to Canada need a strong English language basis in order to obtain good jobs and we hope that all levels of Government will recognise this and ensure that immigrant ESL programs can be maintained at a low cost to the students who need them.”
