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NEW CANADIANS CAREER QUEST – Taking the Right Steps into the Future

The K-W YMCA Cross-Cultural and Community Services Establishes Internet Presence

Introducing… Employment and Career Orientation Modules geared toward Service Providers for Newcomers to Canada

The Cross-Cultural and Community Services branch of the K-W YMCA has launched a web-based curriculum to assist New Canadians in their career integration. The Internet presentation of the curriculum is available on the K-W YMCA web site:

www.ymcakw.org

The curriculum called NEW CANADIANS CAREER QUEST – Taking the Right Steps into the Future, is a tool developed for use by career, settlement and ESL providers interested in assisting newcomers in their career integration. The formal launch of the web site took place at the K-W YMCA, Cross-Cultural and Community Services, Market Square Centre, on March 29, 2000.

The New Canadians Career Quest project was funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada and is intended to be used by settlement agencies across the nation. The curriculum has three components:

General Career Orientation, Cluster-Specific Orientation, and Career Planning Module. The General Career Orientation module covers topics such as: the world of work and access to occupations in Canada, language, computer and career training orientation and an introduction to the concept of self-assessment. The Cluster-Specific Orientation Module offers an opportunity for newcomers to learn about various jobs that exist within a range of occupations similar to their original employment. The Career Planning module takes newcomers through the most important steps on the path to optimal employment.

Often newcomers to Canada struggle with their career integration due to culturally-anchored barriers. Despite favourable economic conditions many stay either unemployed or underemployed for a long time before they are able to pursue meaningful career options. As a result, their potential is wasted which is a great individual loss, but also a waste of a valuable economic potential for this country. The needs assessment study that preceded the development of the curriculum showed that timely, accurate and culturally appropriate information can facilitate career integration of newcomers in a meaningful and efficient way. The curriculum can be used both with groups and for individual counselling. For those immigrants who are still in the process of learning the language, or who are in the early stages of settlement, a curriculum like this can allow a gradual preparation for the world of work in Canada.

New Canadians Career Quest is primarily geared to service providers, but newcomers who are familiar with the use of the Internet can find it useful too. The curriculum offers numerous links to local and nation-wide career resources.

For More Information Contact:

The K-W YMCA Cross-Cultural and Community Services
Market Square
25 Frederick Street
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada N2H 3M8
Tel: 519-579-9622
FAX: 519-579-9624

Where the Jobs Are: The Hottest Careers for the 21st Century
By Joyce Hadley Copeland
2000, Career Press, ISBN 1564144224

An interesting publication identifying current and up and coming career areas. Copeland analyzes demographic and economic trends, industry patterns, and discusses the impact of computers and globalization. Each section ends with job profiles formatted as an interview with individual professions. These interviews are interesting both for the responses and also serve as a good guide for the reader’s own information gathering interviews. Canadian readers can use this book as a basic overview but some information will not be completely accurate in the Canadian context, particularly in areas such as health care and social services. Nevertheless, the book raises awareness and helps the reader focus on what needs to be considered in making effective career choices. Useful tips on how to approach the career search are found at the beginning of the book as well as in each section with ideas particular to the specialty.

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