Up to 30 British Columbian immigrants will get “essential and occupational skills training” to help them become dental assistants.
The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction recently announced it’s providing more than $600,000 to Western Community College in Surrey to deliver skills and certification courses in two intakes of its Immigrant Dental Assistants Training program as part of it Community and Employer Partnerships (CEP) project.
Those in the program will receive 27 weeks of essential, occupation and skill training, four weeks of work experience with local dentists and one week of follow-up support while looking for a job.
“This program aims to connect immigrants to rewarding careers as dental assistants, providing them an opportunity to acquire the training necessary to obtain employment in a recovering sector of the B.C. economy impacted by COVID-19,” said Gurpal Dhaliwal, president, Western Community College. “Partnering with Progressive Intercultural Community Services (PICS), a well-known, community-based organization, enhances our ability to provide immigrant participants with the essential skills and supports needed to effectively attach to the labour market.”
According to the ministry, the project is funded through the Project-Based Labour Market Training stream of WorkBC’s CEP. It adds these partnerships are “targeted toward projects that support an inclusive economic recovery.”
lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com
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