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Starting a new life as a British Columbian will be made easier thanks to $40,000 for the Thompson Rivers University program, Cariboo Chilcotin Partners for Literacy, delivering free English language support programs to immigrants and refugees.

“British Columbia is a popular place for immigration because of the many opportunities here,” says Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett. “This funding will support their transition and make the Cariboo an even better place for a new beginning.”

The English as a Second Language Settlement Assistance Program (ESLSAP) is an innovative way to provide access to language support to recent immigrants and refugees in regional and more remote communities. Funding allows for a co-ordinator to recruit and provide standardized training to volunteer tutors and match those tutors with immigrants who want to improve their English language skills. Tutoring is focused on the learner’s individual goals and functional language skills that can vary from reading a menu to functioning successfully in a workplace. 

The $1.6 million investment will enable 42 service providers to deliver tutoring services in over 50 regional and remote communities and their surrounding areas.  Last year, more than 600 volunteers across B.C. provided English language tutoring to over 800 immigrant and refugee learners in regional and remote communities.

The ESLSAP is one of the programs offered through WelcomeBC, the Province’s umbrella of services for immigrant settlement and integration services and welcoming communities initiatives. ESLSAP is made possible through funding from the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia.

Since 2008, more than $100 million in federal and provincial funding has been invested in English language development services for immigrants under WelcomeBC.

Information on becoming an ESLSAP volunteer tutor can be found at: www.mytrainingbc.ca/eslsap/recruitment/. 

Information on WelcomeBC can be found at www.welcomebc.ca. 

For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. 

For the latest constituency news from the Cariboo-Chilcotin visit Donna’s website www.donnabarnettmla.bc.ca.