Employment Services

Childcare Training Pathway trains and assists low skilled immigrant women to obtain a Child Development Assistant Certificate. Clients receive English language enhancement, essential skill and employment skills training. The program is available to immigrant women with less than twelve years of education and Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 3-4. Eligible clients include permanent residents, refugees and Canadian citizens with language and cultural barriers as approved by Alberta’s Learner Income Support Office.

Companion Training provides immigrant women with skills and knowledge to fulfill the companionship needs of seniors or individuals with disabilities or long term health issues. Clients will receive training in effective communication, supportive listening, stimulating leisure activities, maintaining daily schedules, ethics, abuse prevention, infection prevention, and medication assistance. This project supports immigrant women who are permanent residents or Canadian citizens with Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5-6.

CIWA’s Contract Work: Finding Your Way trains and supports immigrant women to understand the world of contract work, freelance projects and self-employment. Through this project, professionally trained women will build the skills needed to navigate the gig economy and thrive in the changing labor market. The project also includes career planning, individualized labor market assessment, employment skill building and job search support.

Fast Track Employment Training for Immigrant Women provides mid-skilled immigrant women training in one of 3 tracks, individualized support and employment skills training. The three tracks are Administrative Support Skills, Front Line Customer Service Skills and Protection Skills (security guard). The program is available to immigrant women who are permanent residents with Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5-6.

Food Service Training provides low to mid skilled immigrant women with training to enter the quick service industry. Clients receive English language enhancement, essential skill and employment skills training. Training includes food safe handling and certification, customer service and cash register handling. The program is available to immigrant women who are permanent residents with Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 3-4.

Labour Market Bridging for Volunteers: Interpretation and Translation provides training is a full-time 20-week employment training program which supports bilingual professional women. Participants build skills to become community interpreters as well as translators and gain knowledge and skill to function as freelance interpreters and translators in a self-employed or contractual environment. Training includes the curriculum of Cultural Interpretation Services for Our Communities (CISOC). Clients obtain certification through the Community Interpreter Language Interpreting Skills Assessment Tool (CILISAT). The program follows a social enterprise model, collaborates with businesses and agencies to offer paid interpretation and translation work to program graduates. Eligible clients include permanent residents who currently volunteer with CIWA or who are interested in working with Language Venture: Interpretation and Translation Services. Candidates must have Canadian Language Benchmark of 7 and higher as well as oral and written proficiency in a second language.

This is a 13-month part-time program offered in collaboration with Bow Valley College. The program prepares CIWA clients, currently working at early learning and child care centers, to provide quality child care in a wide variety of settings and complete the Level 2 Early Childhood Educator Certification. Throughout the program, clients are offered professional support to advance in their careers and to positively impact the lives of children in their care.

Line Cook Training provides mid skilled immigrant women with training to enter cook, prep cook and kitchen help roles. Clients receive English language enhancement, essential skill and employment skills training. Training focuses on professionalism, safety and sanitation, kitchen operation, preparation and cooking. The program is available to immigrant women who are permanent residents with Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 4-6.

Links to Young Adult Employment provides young immigrant and refugee mothers with training and support to develop a long-term career plans and to enter meaningful employment. Clients receive essential skill training, including digital skill building, Canadian workplace preparation, one-on-one career planning, one-one-one mentoring and employment skill training. The program is available to immigrant mothers who are permanent residents or refugees with and a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 or higher. Ten weeks of classroom training is followed by 14 weeks of Canadian work experience.

Modular Employment Training provides low skilled immigrant women training to enter housekeeping, room attendant and kitchen help roles. Training includes health and safety, working with others, workplace expectations, customer service, schedules and phones, kitchen help, WHMIS, and room attendant skills. Clients receive one on one resume and job search assistance. The program accepts new clients every Monday year round. The program is available to immigrant women who are permanent residents with Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 2 and higher.

Retail Training provides low skilled immigrant women training to enter retail roles. Clients receive English language enhancement, essential skill and employment skills training. Training focuses on customer service, cash handling, health and safety, working with others, food demonstration and entry level job access primarily focused on the grocery sector. The program is available to immigrant women who are permanent residents with twelve years or less of education and a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 3-4.