{"id":6113,"date":"2024-12-02T23:37:25","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T23:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2024\/12\/02\/winnipeg-language-course-defunded-leaving-newcomers-in-the-lurch-director-says-winnipeg\/"},"modified":"2024-12-02T23:37:25","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T23:37:25","slug":"winnipeg-language-course-defunded-leaving-newcomers-in-the-lurch-director-says-winnipeg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2024\/12\/02\/winnipeg-language-course-defunded-leaving-newcomers-in-the-lurch-director-says-winnipeg\/","title":{"rendered":"Winnipeg language course defunded, leaving newcomers in the lurch, director says – Winnipeg"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A specialized English language program in Winnipeg will be shutting its doors in four months, after learning it\u2019s losing federal funding.<\/p>\n

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The Enhanced English Language Skills for Employment program, which has been running for four years out of the Canadian Mennonite University, is geared toward new Canadians who want to refine their English skills, with the goal of getting high-earning jobs in their fields.<\/p>\n

The program\u2019s executive director, Louise Giesbrecht, told 680 CJOB that the program is tailored to the individual students\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur language develops differently. You might be able to speak well, but you might not be able to write very well. You might not be able to read very well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we take each of those skills individually, focus on the type of employment people want \u2014 on the types of jobs that they\u2019re doing. We give them the skills to work through that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Giesbrecht said it\u2019s a big setback for the 140 students in the current class, who are heartbroken by the news.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe need right now is for what is referred to as the most vulnerable \u2014 those individuals who have very low-level English or no English at all, and can\u2019t even work at McDonald\u2019s or a job like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need special care, but it\u2019s going to take them two or three years of intensive English to get to a place, because they\u2019re at the lowest levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Journalist Oleksandra Borys and her family escaped the war in Ukraine. She graduated the language program earlier this year and said the intensive learning experience made a big difference.<\/p>\n