Current Projects

This project will research and develop a model for new employee orientation guides to support newcomers in the trades. The model resource will be piloted and evaluated with a cohort of newcomer electricians to remove barriers to completion of worksite orientation and safety training.

English in the Workplace (EWP) is an effective and flexible way to resolve language, cultural and integration challenges for businesses with multi-ethnic workforces. Non-native speakers need adequate language skills to participate fully in the workplace including conversation management. . Companies want to increase retention and reduce tensions that may exist within their multi-ethnic workforces. . Building on Phase 1, as well as work completed as part of the Rural Enhancement Initiative, this project will pilot and assess the Common Ground guide and training manual with Alberta companies from various industry sectors including Manufacturing, Food Processing, Food Service and Hospitality and Tourism. The Common Ground resource, developed through support from Alberta Employment and Immigration, is a guide and training manual that is designed to equip companies to offer English in the Workplace (EWP) for permanent and temporary foreign workers.

The Common Ground package consists of a guide, English in the Workplace: A How-to Guide for Employers, and the accompanying learner resource, English in the Workplace Training Manual. Common Ground has been developed to support Alberta workplaces in setting up and delivering their own EWP training program for employers at a Canadian Language benchmark of 4.

The objective of the two-year “From Immersion to Integration” project is to research what intercultural and language training, as well as organizational adaptation, accelerates the integration of new Canadians into a mainstream company. The knowledge generated will be translated into an Organization Integration Model (OIM), which includes the development and delivery of appropriate training to the organization to facilitate integration.

The OIM will be implemented across four organizational levels including corporate, business, functional and operational. . The intercultural training for this project is centred on competency building rather than only raising awareness for both Canadians and new Canadians. . 400 employees at CoSyn Technology and 150 employees at Landmark Builders are participating in intercultural training. . At management levels, managers will receive up to 18 hours of training and at the operational level, employees receive up to 12 hours of training. .

This project also focuses on reducing barriers to leadership positions in organizations for new Canadians by developing and piloting a CLB-referenced language curriculum. The 42-hour course for new Canadians builds the specific competencies to enhance communication with leaders or to assume leadership positions in the organizations. This course, Personal Management in a Multicultural Organization, together with the Clear Speech, Conversation Management and Business Writing courses, forms a comprehensive 120-hour, onsite, intercultural and language training program for new Canadians in the workplace.

Rural communities increasingly need to support newcomers joining their community through settlement, language training, and community integration programming. . The Rural ESL Enhancement project (Phase 1) responded to the need for a resource targeting newcomers to assist them in developing some survival language skills, increase their knowledge of the community and establish community connections so that newcomers could become participating community members. . In Phase 2 of this project, the Roots and Connections: A Culturally Integrated ESL curriculum for Community Orientation in Alberta resource and capacity development model is piloted in four rural communities. .

The pilot will enhance the effectiveness and usability of the Roots and Connections resource and will inform the capacity building and support model integrated in the resource. . The project will result in an evidence-based resource and capacity development model that will be available for all rural communities interested in the development and delivery of ESL programming. The resource will be shared with all Alberta community service providers to support their work in developing a welcoming community that promotes the full participation of newcomers in the social, cultural and economic life in their community.