Great Canadian Resources Online

Here are some resources both students and teachers will find useful:

RUN OF THE TOWN-Stories of an unfettered youth. by Terrence Rundle West "WINNER OF THE 2007 NORTHERN LIT AWARD" Your mother lets you out to watch two lumberjacks in a vicious fist-fight. "Just stay back", she warns. You have Run of the Town. This is Hearst, Northern Ontario and environs, mid-20th century.

Arrival Survival Canada * Provides newcomers with the detailed information they need to be successful in their first year in Canada. * Connects with newcomers through stories about immigrants’ authentic experiences and successes. * Engages readers with dynamic maps, graphs, and tables that help them relate to and understand the text.

* Helps newcomers learn fun, interesting facts about Canada with the Did you know… feature boxes.
* Encourages newcomers to be active readers and personalize the universal information in the book to their specific needs with the Creating Your Canadian Experience feature at the end of each unit.
* Includes a glossary of key terms to explain new, unfamiliar, and specifically Canadian words.
See Oxford University Press for more information.

How to Find a Job in Canada : Common Problems and Effective Solutions, a companion volume to Arrival Survival Canada. From résumé writing to Canadian workplace etiquette, the book uses a problem/solution format to answer newcomers' most common questions. Also available from Oxford Press

From the diverse cultures of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Vietnam, Germany, Guyana, Somalia, and others, immigrant children write of their experiences leaving their homes and moving to a new country. The stories, poems, and pictures in Our New Home tell of the fear and sadness, the excitement and challenge of moving to another world and forging a new sense of self in a new land. The editors of this book bring rich backgrounds to it. Emily Hearn has written programs for the CBC, TVO and the National Film Board, books for children, and a natiural history comic strip for OWL Magazine. Marywinn Milne's career spans 30 years with the Toronto District School Board in a variety of teaching roles, including those of teacher librarian and ESL/ESD teacher. Our New Home was just released in October by Second Story Press, a small Canadian publishing house with a reputation for publishing high quality books, fiction and non-fiction, for both adults and children. Their children's book, Hana's Suitcase – the nonfiction tale of a Japanese historian and a little girl who perished in the Holocaust -- is part of the award-winning Holocaust Remembrance Series for Young Readers and has won many awards. For ordering information, see Second Story's website: http://secondstorypress.ca/books/140-our-new-home

Do you know about the Learning English section on the BBC website ? it has lots of information, and myriad activities for both students and teachers, as well as blogs, and other contacts with learners from around the world. Looks like fun. Of course, there will be some unfamiliar British vocabulary, but that's not a bad thing! Thanks for the tip, Margaret!

Click here to have a look: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/


In case you haven't explored it yet, the settlement.org website, run by the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, (OCASI), has a wealth of resources for ESL teachers and students alike. There are two sections: one for immigrants, full of articles you can use in the classroom on such topics as education, health, money management, and much more, and one for those of us who serve immigrants, with many resources and articles that can contribute to our effectiveness, and also to our wellbeing. It's well worth taking a little time to explore both sites, which you can enter here: http://settlement.org/path.html

The Canadian Immigrant is an online magazine full of information, resources, success stories, thought-provoking articles and pictures. It can be an invaluable classroom resource, as well as providing pertinent and enjoyable reading for students at home.

To view The Canadian Immigrant magazine, click on this link: http://www.canadianimmigrant.ca/


The Link is a two-hour daily radio show aimed at connecting new immigrants to Canada and Canada to the world. Plug into the show for immigration news and stories. Find out what's new and exciting on Canada's cultural landscape. And get the pulse on what's happening in Canada today. Whether you live inside or outside the country, just click on The Link and get connected. 

To check out The Link at Radio Canada International, click on this link: http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/en/emissions/1952.shtml

All sorts of new things are happening at ISKA these days. Remember to check their website so you can refer students appropriately. For more information and updates on services, click here:
http://immigrantserviceskingston.ca

Be sure to download their monthly calendar of events and their newsletters from the website.

CANADIAN COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN & YOUTH

Call for submissions for the CCICY Newsletter 'Soap-Box'

The CCICY Newsletter now has a regular 'soap-box' feature where members are invited to post on a topic related to immigrant children and youth. Folks are invited to submit pieces (300 or fewer words) on the following topics:

Soap-box submissions may be edited for length and content and are subject to approval by the Newsletter editor and Barbara Burnaby. Deadlines are the second Friday of each month. Click here to submit.

T he reason that CCICY was created is to address the education needs of immigrants by creating collaborative dialogue between the two levels of government who have those two responsibilities. Currently, the federal government has responsibility for immigration and the provinces have responsibility for education.

As a National Coalition, CCICY has faced many challenges including the need for funding and a structure to support the work. Each province is working on the issue in different way, utilizing different structures and CCICY has much work to support the work of the provinces while working towards a collaborative approach. Their goal is to promote information-sharing, dialogue and collaboration amongst all stakeholders to achieve their vision of having an education system that effectively supports all children and youth in becoming contributing members of Canada's society.

Initially, POE will contain credential equivalencies for twenty-five countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, The Netherlands, Turkey, UK and USA. We expect the list will grow very soon to encompass the vast majority of countries.

This self-assessment tool is currently limited to a post-secondary degrees and recognized degree-granting institutions. It does not include secondary-level or other types of institutions and credentials.

The equivalencies provided are based on information in WES database. There is $30 fee to review equivalencies for three international credentials. This fee can be credited towards the cost of a formal evaluation report.

Note: Since the statement of equivalency is not based on a review of actual documents, it has no formal status, and cannot be used by an individual as proof that they have earned the degree described. Only a formal evaluation report can be used for purpose of degree authentication.

For more information, or to access the Preliminary Online Equivalency, click here.

Credential Evaluation for Newcomers
by Peg Deaton, Roving Reporter, TESL Kingston

On May 31st, 2006, Nancy Millward of World Education Services (WES) gave a presentation at St. Lawrence College on the whys and hows of credential evaluation for newcomers.

She stated that approximately 40% of employers indicate that they would screen out internationally-educated applicants because they do not know how to assess their education. In order to break that barrier of what employers are thinking, WES aids foreign-trained professionals to apply for employment, apply for licensing or certification with professional associations, enter apprenticeship training programs and even to immigrate to Canada. For employers in Canada the biggest issues are understanding foreign credentials and ascertaining language skills.

In working with the applicants there are three key questions: Does the work they do belong to one of the regulated professions? How will a credential assessment help them get a job? Why choose World Education Services?

WES is an international not-for-profit agency whose mission is to facilitate the employment and academic integration of immigrants through the provision of credential evaluation services. WES is recognized and funded, by the Government of Ontario, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. It has 30 years experience and does approximately 55,000 evaluations annually.

For teachers of these professionals the following contact information may be useful:

www.wes.org/ca At this site the individual may download the application form or complete the form on line.

www.edu.gov.on.ca (or call 1-888562-4769) At this site or phone number the individual
may obtain information related to regulated professions.

416-651-1496 Costi Translation Services

www.ilc.org or call 1-416-326-5775 At this site or number questions may be asked with regard to apprentice training.

www.apprenticesearch.com This site gives information about jobs for apprentices.

www.SkillsInternational.ca This site is a very new venture. It contains a searchable database of candidate profiles and is dedicated exclusively to profiling the skills of immigrant job seekers in Ontario. This tool unites pre-screened, internationally trained individuals with employers who need their skills.

www.wes.org/ca/apply/westoeic.asp This site allows newcomers to apply online for an evaluation of international educational credentials as well as registration for a TOEIC test.

For those using WES, Nancy stated that the most important document for foreign trained professionals to obtain is their transcripts. These should be sent directly from their university abroad to WES in a sealed envelope. Once those are received, their standard service is fast – 7 businesss days. For one fee, WES evaluates all the professional’s formal academic degrees or diplomas issued by educational institutions.

An on line application may be made to www.wes.org/ca/application . To check the status of a report online, the applicant may go to https://www/wes.org/ca/appstatus

For no extra charge, a second original copy of the report is sent directly to an institution of the professional’s choice. Course-by-course evaluation reports are preferred by educational institutions and licensing bodies. An evaluation can be used for employment, continuing education, licensing, entry to apprenticeship training programs and immigration purposes.

The cost of a document-by –document report is $115 per application. The cost of a detailed course-by-course report is $200 per application. An upgrade from document-by-document to Course-by-course report is $150. Rush service is available at an extra cost: same day service is $200, 3-day service is $100. Nancy recommends that one use the
same day service only if transcripts are already in the WES office.

If you would like a WES staff to contact you for an “Information Session” on their Evaluation Services and outreach to employers, contact Nancy Millward at 416-972-0070 ext. 26 or Kevin Kamal 416-972-0070 ext. 25.

You may order materials from WES to give to your students, including WES application forms in English or French, brochures about the TOEIC-WES application, WES hire-smart booklets, WES postcards, and a brochure on understanding a WES report. For these materials contact Kevin or Nancy at the above numbers.