CIES Re-Launches Website

As CIES moves into its 28th year of existence, we continue to search for the best ways to serve our clients and the community of Calgary. CIES has been online since 2004 and its website has gone through a variety of changes in that time. Our most recent upgrade however comes with a first.

Our first upgrade and redesign in three years was done entirely in house. As the use of technology and social media more and more simply become a part of daily life in the 21st century,  the team at CIES is now stocked with highly capable and creative web designers, graphic artists and techno-files. This also means all future changes, upgrades, redesigns and add-ons will be done by CIES and no longer will be outsourced.  Additionally, CIES is now channelling its technical capabilities into developing more on-line course work and we are excited at the direction we are headed. 

Lastly, the Calgary Immigrant Educational Society is one organization with two locations, in both Whitehorn and Forest Lawn. Previously our NE location and our SE location each had their own site, but no longer. All information on both locations is now combined into a single website, with programs offered at either both or one location clearly laid out for all to see.  The slick, modern, and user friendly new interface (which allows clients to easily register on-line) is now very much representative of CIES, that being both our technological capabilities and our constant striving to provide our clients with the most up-to-date services and support. 

Check out our new site by CLICKING HERE.  

CIES: Who We Are - Part I

A huge part of what makes CIES possible are the many volunteers who work with us daily to best serve the community of Calgary. In part 1 of our original 7 part series "Who We Are" we talk to Ms. Rabail Qasir, volunteer Drop in ESL teacher at our SE Location in Forest Lawn.  

A great way to learn about different cultures and help others is to volunteer with an organization like CIES. The benefits of volunteering work both ways and often it is the volunteer who gets more out of donating his or her time and effort. Volunteering means establishing great connections, building your career, and supplies a sense of purpose. Additionally  Psychology Today even claims that those who  regularly volunteer live longer and healthier lives. In the end, Rabail speaks to much of this and her story is very much our own. 

The CIES Annual General Meeting

Last night at our NE location in Whitehorn, CIES held its 27th annual general meeting. The evening was a great success and a result of the hard work and dedication of literally hundreds of people. The highlight of the night were the stories as told by our clients, those immigrants who come to Canada in search of better life. Without them we would not be here. CIES too has its own story, and although many know it, some will not... here it is in a nutshell.

The Calgary Immigrant Educational Society is a non profit registered charity established in 1988 with one primary goal: to provide Calgary immigrants and economically disadvantaged individuals with a solid foothold in Canada and afford them the opportunities to grow into productive and confident Canadians.  C.I.E.S. is governed by a Board of Directors made up of devoted community minded volunteers and operates through funding from both government and private organizations. From our humble beginnings, C.I.E.S. has grown from 5 volunteers in a single office to an employer of about 90 dedicated staff members and over 100 volunteers. C.I.E.S. now operates and is in ownership of both a 15,000 square foot main office building in Calgary’s SE Forest Lawn district and a 22,000 square foot branch building in Calgary’s NE Whitethorn district. Since its inception, C.I.E.S. has assisted nearly a quarter of million clients to strengthen their identities as members of Alberta society, offering services valued at tens of millions of dollars.

And now, our story continues...

For Photos of last night's great event, just CLICK HERE

CIES @ Great in Greater Forest Lawn

The artBOX hosted "Great in Greater Forest Lawn today," a promotion run by the International Avenue Business Revitalization Zone.The concept was for people to pitch ways to improve Forest Lawn with little restriction as to how. Creativity was the name of the game. The winning pitches would receive funding to help get their projects up and running. The event brought the Forest Lawn community together and stressed the amount of potential the district of our city holds. 

Our very own Diana Katsnelson, CLB 6/7 instructor from our NE location, and her pitch for the "little free library", a give a book, take a book drop box was selected as a winner. Great job Diana! And a special thanks to Allison and the BRZ, a great organization CIES is proud to support in its cause. For more pictures of the event CLICK HERE. 

We're Back with a Quick Tease @ CIES

After a very busy and exciting week preparing for our annual general meeting we are back online. Now it's to back to regularly scheduled programming!  Amongst other items, over the coming days we will share with you a series a videos produced that speak to the heart of CIES; the people and their stories that make us who we are. A quick teaser can be seen below!

AGM @ CIES

The Calgary Immigrant Educational Society's Annual General Report is now completed. This will be followed by tomorrow's CIES annual general meeting (AGM). The purpose of our AGM is to give members a report on our activities and finances for the previous year, to allow time for members to ask questions, and to elect members of our governing body for the coming year.  Our NE location in Whitehorn is the site of this year's meeting and we are all looking forward to gathering and sharing. You can download a copy of this year's AGM Report HERE. 

Summer Festival @ CIES

The Calgary Immigrant Educational Society (C.I.E.S.) will be hosting its 5th Annual Summer Festival on August 25, 2015 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the artBOX on 17th avenue SE. The theme for this year's festival would be "Celebrating Diversity". All our welcome so be sure to come on down!

Event Objectives

• Inform the local communities about the city of Calgary's ever-growing cultural diversity 
• Help the attendees gain valuable insights into their own as well as other communities
• Celebrate the true essence of our Canadian multiculturalism and diversity and enjoy the richness that it provides
• Embrace our social democracy and cohesion
• Provide our clients/students with a platform to represent their various cultures and traditions and work together with their peers and teachers to plan activities that promote multiculturalism
• Provide our clients (newcomers to Canada) with the opportunity to learn about core Canadian values
• Provide mainstream local Canadians with an opportunity to learn about and appreciate newcomers’ diverse cultures