Page 7 - ECF-LIA-Sept-Fall-2024-flipbook

“Historically, our government funding always said we prioritize permanent residents and citizens, but if there’s space available, we can put refugee claimants and asylum seekers into our classes,” says Kallal. She explains that over the last two years, CCI-LEX
has seen a significant increase in demand overall for its language training programs. The increase had a significant impact on refugee claimants, who were only able to enrol in the classes if no one else was on the waitlist. “We’ve always accepted refugee claimants when we can, but we’ve never seen demand like this.”
The increased demand meant refugee claimants would often be left waiting more than nine months for a spot to open in the language training classes. The wait for those with permanent residency status, meanwhile, was only about three months.
Sheida Azimi, Program Manager at CCI-LEX, notes that the lack of services available to refugee claimants ultimately delays their ability to settle into their new communities.
“More than 60 per cent of these refugee claims are accepted and they become permanent residents,” she explains. “But when they arrive here, they have these three or four years of no support, where their needs are not being met, so they’re not really being set up for success.”
Thanks to funding from Edmonton Community Foundation, CCI-LEX was able to expand its offering of affordable English classes for refugee claimants and asylum seekers, who otherwise would have limited options for language study. In September 2023, CCI-LEX began offering two basic-level afternoon classes for refugee claimants.
The classes filled up almost immediately, and stayed full throughout the year. Since then, the average wait time for refugee claimants to get into these classes has dropped to two and a half months.
And for newcomers with refugee claimant status, that reduced wait time can make all the difference.
“It’s about giving learners that bit of confidence to start being able to interact and do things on your own, like being able to go and order that coffee, or go get a haircut. Those things are a big deal for people when they do it for the first time,” says Kallal.
But the classes are about more than just learning a new language.
“It’s a safe place where you can learn, you can make mistakes, you can laugh. You can celebrate together,” says Azimi.
“It’s the whole experience and community that’s built here, where people feel belonging and comfortable, and they don’t have to think about some of the other challenges they’re facing at the moment.”
“Without English, how can you move forward with building your life here?”
— Anne-Marie Kallal
ecfoundation.org 7