ESL program offers a world of possibilities

Ontario Revenue Minister Monique Smith gets a crash course in the new ESL multi-media learning lab.

With the help of Ontario Revenue Minister Monique Smith and North Bay Mayor Vic Fedeli Canadore College officially opened the doors to its new English as a Second Language (ESL) lab on Friday morning.

The lab is unique to Northern Ontario and is a network-based, interactive, multi-media learning facility.

The ESL program started back in 1981 but felt the pains of the Harris Government cutbacks and was axed in 1995, and since then the program has slowly rebuilt itself.

“The very next year we reintroduced a very humble program and have been slowly rebuilding,” says Program Coordinator Kelly Allen.

The program intensive two-semester program serves a mix of domestic and international students at the main campus on College Drive and has served students from over 16 countries.

“We have a 27 year history which was primarily francophone when it started but now we are really international. In 1996 we had a student or two from the area of Obregon, Mexico and 13 years later the students keep coming,” says Allen.

“We also have a number of students from Tampico (Mexico) and Guang Zhou (China),” she adds.

Mary Lou Rainville, Dean of Access, General Studies, and Human Services said the new lab extends the possibility of online delivery of the ESL programming off-campus to students locally, nationally and also internationally.

“This is an example of what can be achieved when you work towards a common goal,” states Rainville.