We hope you are enjoying spring and the regeneration that the season can bring.
The last ASCEND cohort to begin in Q4 has now completed, and with that, we are excited to share this very short overview to highlight the impacts that you have made as an ASCEND partner over the 22/23 fiscal year.
Thank you again for your continued engagement with the ASCEND program! Partnerships allow us to support the employability of more immigrant clients across Canada, and we are truly grateful for your continued support.
2022/23 PROGRAM SUMMARY
- 40 Partner organizations across Canada signed an agreement to provide ASCEND to their clients
- 1040 clients across Canada registered in the program, among them:
- 105 Francophone clients that took ASCEND in French through our partnership with SDECB
- 190 International Students that accessed ASCEND through partnership with Northeastern University’s Vancouver Campus
- In total, 87 ASCEND cohorts were offered across Canada in the fiscal year!
CLIENT CERTIFICATES OF COMPLETION
Three key concepts within the ASCEND program are that participants:
- cultivate a growth mindset
- view themselves as having value both to each other and employers
- use social media as a key networking tool
A living example of these three concepts in action is demonstrated by ASCEND clients posting their program Certificates of Completion on LinkedIn. Click here to see some of the positive impacts you are making in your client’s lives.
ASCEND PARTNER MAP
Where are our partners located?
On the ASCEND website there is an excellent partner reference map that showcases where ASCEND partners are located across Canada. You can access the map here: ASCEND Partner Map
How can you benefit from this map?
- It allows potentially interested clients in your area to find and contact you
- It helps you identify ASCEND partners in your region, Province or Territory, which may:
- Support a community of practice among existing ASCEND partners, and identify potential organizational partners for future funding opportunities;
- It allows other organizations within your area to contact you directly should they have questions on your work and/or how ASCEND supports it
- Demonstrate to funder(s) that your organization is involved in cross-Canada partnerships supporting immigrant employment
ASCEND PARTICIPANT VIDEO
Our last (Q3) Newsletter shared a partner-facing video we created for our ASCEND partners to highlight the benefits and value that partnership offers. Our ASCEND Coordinator and Educational Technologist, Narissa MacLeod, has now created a 3-minute client-facing video that you can share with your participants for them to see firsthand what ASCEND offers before they take the program. This video is available here: ASCEND Participant Demo Video
Both videos will be emailed to all ASCEND partners in May, and are now shared with all new partners as part of onboarding.
Q4 PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK
We ask each client that completes ASCEND to share their thoughts. Here is a representative sample of what we heard in Q4:
“Ascend is perfect.”
— CIWA Client
“Optimal combination of theoretical recommendations and exercises with working materials and success stories of immigrants.”
— English Online client
“Its comprehensive coverage of all the situations, opportunities, resources, obstacles and challenges we all immigrants face when immigrate to this welcoming country, Canada. “
— VCC Client
“The ASCEND program is a great resource for newcomers who are going to start their career here in Canada. Everyone should take it, whether you are still looking for a job or have been working for some times.”
— Progressive Intercultural Community Services client
“Everything, how to write resume, how to deal with behavioral question, how to negotiate salary, verbal and non verbal communication. All the modules are helpful. “
“Well this is an awesome program especially for the persons who are busy in their daily routine. Due to its online nature, it provides a great platform to improve the personal skills and also build more confidence in a person.”
— RIWC Clients
“The program covered all the relevant aspects that are most essential in preparing for a job at the Canadian workplace. The Youtube videos are an excellent addition that help us to understand the concepts very clearly. The modules are well thought out and planned. the part about creating Linkedin profile and personal branding helped me a lot. extra resources are a great source of information that are very useful. “
— Back in Motion client
“Before this course, I had many questions about the topics that this course shows or teaches. Now, after approving it, my confidence in the knowledge, management, actions and behavior in the Canadian world of work is already backed and guaranteed with ASCEND.”
— Lethbridge Family Services client
23/24 FY GROWTH OUTLOOK
We already have 34 cohorts in progress or planned for Q1 alone, with projections for over 300 clients. This will be ASCEND’s largest quarter ever for client numbers and total cohorts.
The program continues to grow, and more and more clients are improving their employability through your work.
