Almost one in every five residents of Canada is an immigrant, thereby making 18 percent of the Canadian population to be immigrant. For this reason, Canada comes second after Australia, which has a 24 percent of its population attributed to immigrants (Statistics Canada, 2005). In addition, close to two thirds of the population growth in Canada may be attributed to net international immigration. Immigrations play a significant role in as far as the economic growth of Canada is concerned. Nevertheless, research shows that immigrants are quite limited with regard to integration into the economy and labour market of Canada (Statistics Canada, 2006).
That being the case, immigrants into Canada, and especially adults, are often times faced with underutilised experiences and knowledge, in addition to their skills. Also, a fairly significant portion of the immigrants are challenged in terms of language and educational qualifications (Mazumdar, 2004), meaning that in the absence of further knowledge and skills acquisition, and then they are faced with a bleak future as immigrants. It is from this context that this research paper hopes to address the issue of adult education programs and courses that have been made available to recent immigrants into Canada. If at all Canada is to attain a successful transition of these adult immigrants into the labour market, there is a need to ensure that immigrants have access to education programs and courses that shall ensure that they are equally competitive in the labour market, relative to the Canadian residents.
Adult education in Canada
Adult education consists of all the processes in education that adults engage in, and which seeks to either supplement or replace initial education (Statistics Canada, 2006). Available literature has extensively documented (Walt & Lake, 2004) the fact that lifelong learning is endowed with profound benefits not just for an individual, but also to the larger society as well. Some of these forms of benefits may include enhanced social cohesion, personal autonomy development, improved productivity, improved quality of life and enhanced labour efficiency (Statistic Canada, 2005). Watt and Lake (2004) have reported about the findings of the rates of acquisition of a second language amongst adult immigrants. The results shows that the acquiring proficiency in English as a Second Language (ESL) is often viewed by a majority of the adult immigrants as a gateway to better employment prospects and by extensions improved living standards.
Challenges and problems for the Canadian immigrants
In order that recent immigrants into Canada may experience a successful integration there is a need for them to be in possession of essential skills that may be a requirement by the Canadian society. Nevertheless, it is worth of note that most of there are many Canadian immigrants that are in possession of rich work experiences and skills (Cervatiuc, 2008), more than even that possessed by the residents of Canada. Even then, language may be the one greatest handicap that they could be faced with, seeing that not all the immigrants into Canada posses English as their first language.
It is from such perspective then, that a majority of the courses and programs that targets the immigrants into Canada places a greater emphasis on language training lessons. Nevertheless, notwithstanding their impressive professional qualifications, a lot of the immigrants still find it rather difficult to manoeuvre their way through the labour market (Rubenson & Yoon, 2007), more than the residents of Canada. This may to a large part be attributed to a lack of cultural orientation to the new environment, and so the more reason why education programs for adult immigrants should be concerned with equipping their students with mechanisms to integrate with the Canadian society.
Funding sources for Canadian adult education
Walt and Lake (2004) opine that financing remains a fundamental element in as far as the realisation of a lifelong strategy is concerned. In Canada, the federal government remains the key source of adult education financing. In this case, the federal government funds often get directed towards those educational institutions that concerned with the provision of adult education. In addition, adult immigrants students could also obtain financing for programs and courses that may be outside of conventional Canadian education system, courtesy of programs that have received the sponsorship of non-profit organisations, faith-based organisations and employers, among others.
Most of the adult educations courses and programs in Canada receive their funding courtesy of the provincial governments (Rubenson & Yoon, 2007). For the reason that adult education is governed from a provincial setting, the implementation as well as the accessibility of these forms of adult educations programs and courses is often times delivered bay way of a collaboration between on the one hand, the private sector and on the other hand, the public sector. The non-profit organisation and the faith-based organisations too, are also involved here, and their individual services tend to overlap.
Notwithstanding the benefits and needs identification for the adult education for Canadian immigrants, adult education could be said to be faced by a crisis (Cervatiuc, 2008), thanks in large part to the prevailing global economic meltdown that has affected a majority of the global economic giants, and this includes Canada as well. As a result of this, the adult education courses and programs have lately been characterised by declined funding.
Already, the government is faced with a challenge of bailing out financial institutions and federal organisations that have are facing imminent bankruptcy status, thereby leaving limited funding for the adult educations programs for the immigrants. in as much as educational institutions may be the primary financiers for adult education in Canada, employers too, have been shown to play a significant role in as far as the provision of apprenticeship and job-related programs is concerned, not to mention training facilities and equipment availability (Statistics Canada, 2005).
As per the observation of statistics Canada (2006), training programs for adult education that are outside of the educations institution are chiefly funded via self-financing and through employers. In the case of the immigrants though, this is often a tall order, seeing that their level of employment is often twice that of the Canadian residents. As such, they are least likely to receive funding from their employees.
Also, the fact that they have immigrated to Canada for greener pastures means that they may not have the necessary funds to finance their own adult education. What this means therefore is that immigrants have to rely on the government funding that is targeted towards the availing of adult education for immigrants (Cervatiuc, 2008), as well as the financing by non-governmental organisations, in additions to faith-based organisations. Furthermore, there are also community programs that are out to offer a wide range of learning opportunities, not to mention personal interest courses.
Adult Education programs for Canadian immigrants
According to a survey carried out on immigrants into Canada, the revelation was that of the main applicants in the category of skilled workers (these were found to be between the age of 25 and 44); just about 48 percent of these were able to secure a job for which they have the necessary requirements. In addition, almost one in every five recent immigrants happens to be in the category of chronic low income earners (Statistics Canada, 2005).
The national rate of unemployed immigrants of 2006 discovered that immigrants that have been in Canada for a period that did not exceed five years were at 11.5 percent. This is almost double the observed rate of the unemployed Canadian of the same age bracket, who stood at 4.9 percent (Statistics Canada, 2005).
One of the principle barriers that was discover in as far as this high unemployment rate is concerned, was that of professional and social integration on the part of the immigrants, with regard to insufficient English proficiency. According to research findings, a higher level of English proficiency, coupled bears a positive correlation with the type of employment that immigrants stand to gain, in addition to the nature of the ensuing earnings (Walt & Lake, 2004).
Canadian Job Strategies
The CJS program is a creation of the Canadian federal government, via Employment and Immigration Canada (EIC). Created in 1978, CJS seeks to provide language training for both Canadian adult immigrants, as well as the native Canadians who are not able to secure employment as a result of a lack of proficiency in speaking English and French. The federal government manages this program, through what are known as training seats (Cummins & Davison, 2007). In this case, the federal government possesses the rights over selected unemployment students, whom they then sponsor for this program. The training, carried out on a full-time basis, makes room for the issuance of basic living allowances to the students.
In addition, employment insurance benefits may also be availed to candidates that fulfil certain requirements. In this case, a number of institutional providers are called upon to apply for these funds, determine an appropriate curriculum, select training materials, hire instructors and carry out their own assessment for the program (Cummins & Davison, 2007). Although the Canadian government (both the provincial and the federal) have religiously funded such kind of programs, nevertheless they have failed to provide the much needed guidance for such programs. This is a responsibility that has been left entirely to the individual institutions offering these programs and courses.
Labour market language training (LMLT)
LMLT is a program that came into being in 1992. The main focus of this program is to enhance English proficiency for the immigrant. In addition, the program has also been modelled around the Australian language training programs (Hinkel, 2005). As such, the LMLT is geared towards ensuring the immigrant adults are in a position to express themselves both social and professionally, so that they enhance their ability to land on gainful employment. This is in addition to equipping them with the much needed confidence, with regard to their self-expression.
LINC program
Canada has in place a language program funded at the national level, the Language for Newcomers to Canada (LINC). This program is geared towards the provision of free and basic instructions in both French and English. This is with a view to facilitating refugees and adult immigrants integrate fairly well into the Canadian society (Cummins & Davison, 2007).Though comprehensive and with operations at a national level, this uniform program nevertheless was only instituted in 1992. Before then, the delivery of language to immigrants consisted of programs that cut across diverse sectors, and which were funded by the federal government.
In addition, such programs were characterized by variations with respect to teacher qualifications, curricula, as well as the outcomes expected of the learners. Nevertheless, the national nature of this form of funding is such that it helps to reflect on the acceptance, on the part of the Canadians, that language instructions is indeed a vital component of refugee and immigrants settlement (Cummins & Davison, 2007). In addition to it being a responsibility of the federal government to ensure that such groups are not discriminated against in say, as far as employment issues are concerned, on ground of their language handicap.
Just like it is the case in Australia, LINC is run by Citizenship and immigration Canada, the immigration arm of the federal government that was established in 1994. The aim of this establishment was to “link immigration services with citizenship registration, to promote the unique ideals al Canadians share and to help build a stronger Canada” (Cummins & Davison, 2007). On the other hand, contrary to the case in Australia, the assessment framework and curriculum may be national, but the delivery of the program is ‘more evolved’. In addition, the program enjoys an annual funding via grants. Sadly, there lacks a national centre responsible for research coordination, resources and professional management.
The design of LINC is such as to target basic language training. In addition, this is a program that is readily available top recent immigrants in Canada. The main features of this program include enhanced funding level, as opposed to those that characterized previous programs. This is in addition to consistent placement and assessment procedures that its beneficiaries are out to gain (Cummins & Davison, 2007). The providers for the LINC program are required to make an annual application for funding, in addition to a preparation of course materials and the curriculum for the program.
Nevertheless, significant differences in as far as the funding application processes are concerned have resulted in the emergence of other providers (Cummins & Davison, 2007). In this regard, community agencies ( this is especially the case in Ontario), as well as the non-governmental organizations (mostly in British Columbia) have over time asserted themselves as the providers of choice with regard to the funding of immigrants adult education.
Faith-based organizations
There are a number of faith-based organizations in Canada that have dedicated themselves to facilitating a better and better adaptation of their lives of adult immigrants into Canada. For example, Lighthouse is a non-governmental organization that offers translations and interpretation services to refugees and immigrants in Canada (Rubenson & Yoon, 2007). In addition, the organization offer spiritual counselling, referrals and assistance in as far as employment, income tax clinics, employment and social programs are concerned. Furthermore, Lighthouse offers emergency food and used clinics to the immigrants.
Community organizations and immigrants serving agencies
There are more than 235 community organizations and immigrant-serving agencies across Canada. These organizations are involved in an active way, in enhancing labor market integration and settlement of immigrants to Canada (Rubenson & Yoon, 2007). Besides their responsibility in offering conventional preparation processes to immigrants, a majority of the agencies are also charged with the responsibility of providing leadership skills to these immigrants. This is by way of entering into innovative alliance with regulatory bodies, government educators, other community agencies as well as other relevant stakeholders.
This is with a view to aiding in the delivery of programs that seek to address practical as well as systemic barriers to the attainment of better standards of living for the immigrants, in addition to facilitating in an easier integration of immigrants with the Canadian residents Be it collectively or individually, organizations serving immigrants in Canada play a significant role in advocacy, macro-level analysis and policy dialogue, in addition to relevant training to the requirements of the labor market (Seale, 2004).
The Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance (CISSA) is an association of national and provincial organizations that are the umbrella body of over 450 refugee and immigrant settlement agencies all over Canada. CISSA endeavors to exploit the expertise possessed by the immigrants (Valerie, 2004). On the other hand, The Canadian Coalition for Community-Based Employability Training (CCCBET) is an association that avails diverse career assessment and vocational training courses, language instructions, job skills training, numeric and literacy training, and the preparation of immigrants towards employment and placement into the labor market.
Non-governmental organisations
Non-governmental organisations too have also been actively involved in the financing of adult education for Canadian immigrant. In addition, they also seek to offer orientation and basically, an easier integration of immigrant with the residents (Valerie, 2004). One such non-governmental organisation is Immigrant Services Society (ISS), based in the British Columbia. ISS has been actively involved in training, settlement and integration of both refugees and immigrants alike, in Canada. As a non-governmental organisation, ISS has progressively expanded from its inception in 1968 to become today one of the largest serving agency for immigrants in Western Canada. ISS offers assistance to over 29,000 refugees and immigrants on an annual basis.
The assistance offered by ISS comes in many forms. For instance, the office of settlement services is concerned with counselling, orientation, housing, referral, and public education and translation services to the immigrants (Valerie, 2004). As can be seen, ISS, just like other organisation that are concerned with the plight of immigrants into Canada, does not only seek to provide adult education opportunities. Rather, the organisation seeks to enhance personal growth and development of individual, in addition to facilitating in their improved social skills, for purposes of integrating and eventually blending well with the Canadian residents.
Conclusion
Adult education programs for immigrants in Canada are concerned with enabling the integration of recent immigrants into the Canadian society (Watt & Lake, 2004). For the most part, the federal government, whether at the national or provincial level, has been involved in the funding of these programs. The actual providers of these courses and services, mostly educational institutions, are then required to apply for funding from the federal government (Cummins & Davison, 2007). Over time though, both the faith-based and non-governmental organizations have also formed an alliance with the government.
English proficiency is one of the handicaps for a majority of the immigrants into Canada, and so this is a fundamental issue in the training program. In addition, these programs seek to facilitate the attempts by the immigrants to integrate with the Canadian society (Hinkel, 2005).
Vocational training programs also seek to enhance the skills of the immigrants, thus improving their competitiveness in the labour market. Through an identification of the challenges and needs of the immigrants, the various course and programs targeted at immigrants into Canada have thus been tailors to suit their needs.
References
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