North Island College will receive $125,000 to transition English as a Second Language (ESL) programs to a new model where immigrant settlement services are directly administered by the federal government.
B.C. public post-secondary institutions are receiving $10.5 million in total as one-time funding that is part of an initial transition plan the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education has developed with public post-secondary institutions and the federal government.
The funding will help institutions most impacted by the federal government’s decision to end the Canada-B.C. Immigration Agreement effective April 1, 2014.
The cancellation of the Canada-B.C. Immigration Agreement changes the way ESL is delivered in British Columbia. Citizenship and Immigration Canada will fund ESL programs directly through contracts it is currently
negotiating with not-for-profit agencies and a limited number of post-secondary institutions.
The B.C. government will continue to work with public post-secondary institutions to manage the transition to the new federal ESL funding model, and mitigate the impact on students, faculty and staff.