Canadian immigration service expands family literacy programme
September 11 2009 by Mark Johnstone
Pre-school education in Canada
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has announced it will be increasing funding for its Home Instruction for Parents of Pre-School Youngsters (HIPPY) by CA$3.5 million.
The programme is intended to help immigrants living and working in Canada to settle into their communities by enhancing their literacy skills. These skills include better understanding of Canadian culture, language and lifestyles. The service also helps them to access services in their communities and generally aids them in settling in Canada.
Jason Kenney, Canadian immigration minister, said, “with these additional investments, HIPPY will be able to expand its reach to more Canadian cities to help newcomer families improve their language and literacy skills, maximising their contribution to our society.”
The learning can be carried out in immigrants’ homes and the service is being expanded within the Toronto region and throughout Ottawa, Red Deer and Halifax.
The extra funding is part of the celebrations for the 10 year anniversary of the HIPPY project that has provided vital help and guidance for people who have recently moved to Canada.
"With the support of the federal government, we can build on our foundation of success with three more sites and a dramatic expansion of Canadian content in our curriculum" added HIPPY’s International Director, Dr. Miriam Westheimer.
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