Helping newcomers chase their dreams

Helping newcomers chase their dreams

Occupation- Specific Language Training program works with new Canadians to overcome barriers.

Alaauldeen Ibrahim, an experienced food manufacturing engineer who immigrated to Canada in 2018, is one step closer to realizing his dream of opening a small factory producing Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cheeses thanks to the Occupation-Specific Language Training (OSLT) program delivered by Fanshawe’s School of Access Studies.

The OSLT program, funded by Immigration, Refugees Citizenship Canada, offers many free language-training options designed to help newcomers overcome language and other workplace barriers. This year’s Business Workplace Communications course piloted a series focused on how to start a business in Canada.

Alaauldeen Ibrahim shows off some of his homemade cheeses.

Professor Olya Loshkin led Alaauldeen and 10 other students through a 15‐week curriculum that was developed and delivered in partnership with a handful of local agencies.

“I enjoyed collaborating with community partners including Service London Business Hub, Innovation Works, London Small Business Centre and Fanshawe’s own LEAP Junction,” says Olya. “Thanks to their support, we were able to provide an effective hands-on program focused on the students’ needs and interests.”

Alaauldeen’s experience promises to be a recipe for success.

“It opened my eyes to a better approach,” says Alaauldeen who revised an existing business plan through the program. Since graduating in July, he has opened a consulting and training company serving the food and agri-products industry. “Starting this small business is a stepping stone to raise the money I need to achieve my ultimate dream,” he says.

Rick Townend, coordinator of Fanshawe’s OSLT program, says he feels privileged to help unlock the potential of the 40 to 50 internationally trained professionals who enrol in the program each year.

“These are highly skilled professionals trying to build new lives in Canada, while making London their home. They have education and working experience from their home countries and come to us to learn about the industryspecific differences in culture they may encounter in Canada.”