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KIOSK & ICTC Press ReleaseJune 2, 2010 What are the gaps and barriers that prevent newcomers from finding good positions in their field of expertise? Inadequate communication skills and lack of Canadian workplace and cultural experience provide the most immediate roadblocks. "A 2004 study of immigrants…identified health care workers and ICT professionals as the two occupational groupings most likely to emigrate. Almost 7 per cent of ICT immigrants who came to Canada in the 1990s re-emigrated." This percentage represents close to 50,000 ICT workers who came and left again - enough to have addressed five or more years of the gap between domestic supply and overall demand in the ICT sector. Immigrants in Demand - Stats Canada In 2005, the government of Canada, in partnership with Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Canadian Arab Federation contracted KIOSK ESL Communication Solutions to develop and pilot an innovative communication-based skills training program for Internationally Educated Professionals (IEP). The objective of the program was to provide participants with the necessary communication skills, professional development tools and strategies to emerge as successful leaders in the Canadian workforce.
It is our pleasure to announce this strategic partnership and ambitious undertaking for the benefit of Internationally Educated Professionals and all of its ICT industry stakeholders across Canada. KIOSK looks forward to continuing to serve the needs of our diverse community by designing and delivering cost-effective and results-driven ESL/ESP solutions. | ||||||
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Following the success of the pilot, in May 2010, KIOSK and the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) formed a strategic partnership for the development of world-first Online ICT Occupational Assessment and Content. Their partnership was awarded a contract valued at approximately $90,000 to further the goal of successful integration of immigrants into the ICT industries in Canada. The assessment will be accessible to IEP’s, both recently arrived and prior to arrival in Canada through settlement centres at Canadian Embassies worldwide. This project will deploy state-of-the-art software to precisely assess and analyze language skills and skill gaps for newcomers. Skills development will be delivered through innovative self-directed modules designed and housed on distance education platforms. KIOSK is a proud pioneer in the use of the latest technologies in communication-based skills development for professionals. 