London, February 20th, 2014 – Today, Collège Boréal proudly proceeded with the grand opening of their new Orientation and Entrepreneurship Centre for newcomers located at its London site. Thanks to its funder, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), this new Centre will now allow Collège Boréal to help new French speaking immigrants with their integration and orientation needs as well as help newcomer entrepreneurs.
Since 2003, Collège Boréal has been steadily growing and is now playing a significant role in this region, offering more and more services to new immigrants, including but not limited to language training courses, continuing education, academic upgrading services, literacy programs, and job search services (coaching, resume preparation, mentoring and placements). New services are now available to assist with the settlement and integration of newcomers in London, and providing support should they wish to become entrepreneurs. This integrated service centre aims to offer a wide range of services to ensure the harmonious integration of Francophone newcomer immigrants who chose to take up residence in the London area.
“This Centre will truly meet the needs of the Francophone immigration community in London,” notes the President of Collège Boréal, Pierre Riopel. “We now have the necessary tools to provide a greater arsenal of tools available in French, which will allow them to start their own business and be successful at it. We would like to thank CIC for recognizing our commitment to this clientele.”
The establishment of this new Centre will certainly have a positive impact on the social and economic development of the city of London. The news was well received throughout the community, as this testimony demonstrates: “When I first arrived in London with my son, a few years ago, I felt very lonely and isolated,” relates Lamia Benosman, a student enrolled in the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) Program. “Then I met the Boréal team and my life changed for the better. Next September, I plan to enrol in the Early Childhood Education Program and, in a few years, I hope to start my own business!”
Collège Boréal is most happy to welcome Francophone newcomer immigrants in its new Orientation and Entrepreneurship Centre.
About Collège Boréal
For the 12th time in 13 years, Collège Boréal has the highest graduation rate of Ontario’s 24 colleges of applied arts and technology. Furthermore, Collège Boréal also attained for the 9th time in 12 years the highest graduate satisfaction rate of all these Anglophone and Francophone community colleges. The ever-increasing satisfaction rate of Collège Boréal students worked its way up to place among the top three in Ontario at 83.4%, Established in 1995, Collège Boréal is a French-language postsecondary training and learning institution dedicated to the development and growth of Northern and Central-Southwestern Ontario communities.
Source:
Jacqueline Gauthier
Senior Advisor, Communications and Public Affairs, Collège Boréal
705-560-6673, ext. 2720
Jacqueline.gauthier@collegeboreal.ca
