Pilot program helps with communication

Immigrant services professionals came together at Banff YWCA on Thursday (March 7) for an assembly of the Workplace Communication for Rural Immigrants program, a pilot project aimed at helping small-town immigrants communicate better in the workplace.

Karen Jenkins, with Bow Valley College's Directions for Immigrants business program, oversaw the project, which was funded by funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

"Our focus is really about helping people find work, get licensed, but also integrate into the workplace, so we deal with workplace communication and how it's different from their culture," said Jenkins. "What evolved was developing an online course and we realized there are participants who struggle with online learning.

"So what we did was we created the course - it's 15-20 hours and has six units - and is all about workplace communication."

Such communication skills involve dealing with conflict, being assertive, networking, soft skills - things that are important in the Canadian workplace culture, she explained.

"With the course, people are matched with a mentor or a tutor," said Jenkins. "One of the nice outcomes of the project is that these matchings have really evolved into friendships and people are finding new people in the community that they might never have connected with.

"CIC is hoping this project helps not only with essential skills, but there is also that community integration."

The program was developed out of a research project conducted by Vanessa Lodermeier, who then went on to be the project officer for the pilot.

"This study focused on workforce development, training and language opportunities that are available to immigrants and where there might be gaps in services," said Lodermeier. "One of the areas that immigrants reported needing more assistance in was in relation to communication in the workplace."

The pilot involved 15 participants. The majority came from Banff and Canmore, though the pilot also had participants from High River, Okotoks, Strathmore and Cochrane.

"A lot of the feedback we've been getting, both from the participant and the mentors and tutors, is that it's a rewarding experience for them," she said. "The content itself is really useful, but having a mentor or tutor to explain and to practice has been so very helpful."

The pilot recruited participants from a number of sources, including those involved in the research project, the local service agency, the college's settlement services and through advertising in local newspapers. Countries of origin of the participants included Philippines, India, Japan, Caribbean, Ukraine, Belgium and Pakistan, among others.

"We're in negotiations with CIC to finalize funding for the next three years of the program," she said, explaining they hope to have three intakes per year, coinciding with the academic calendar.

One of the project's mentors was Paula Remple, who was paired with Yun Chu Wu.

"I went to Bow Valley College for occupational skills myself, and while I was there they asked me if I wanted to be a mentor," said Remple. "The idea was just to help them with small talk, things like how to be in a store, how to wait on customers, and the really neat thing was because it's so conversational, you end up being really good friends."

Wu was glad to be a part of the project, she said.

"When we registered at Elizabeth Rummel for my son, the school organized stuff for newcomers," said Wu. "They told me where I could find a day care for my daughter. It's very helpful, a very good service. All kinds of information, like free programs for children or where to buy winter clothes."

"I got to hear Yun Chu's story about coming from Taiwan and living in China, and then she also had a lot of questions about living in Canmore," added Remple. "It was helping Canmore feel more welcoming, like home for her."

Jeanie Godfrey, a settlement support worker with the Town of Banff, found the pilot to be invaluable.

"A lot of the families that are a part of this program we work with as well," she said. "We support the families in the communities, helping them settle. We support the kids in the school, we're attached to the employers and support them, and we support the agencies that are working with the immigrants.

"We answer any questions they might have, we also provide them with information for programs they might be eligible for. When a new family comes into the community, they need to know about housing options, supports that might be available for kids to participate in, activities, low income programs - we connect them with that information."