Little Free Library Fundraiser

Donation box at the Welcome Centre

The CLB 6/7 class at the Welcome Centre is excited to launch our Little Free Library Fundraiser this week.

We are raising money for the construction of a Little Free Library in the N.E. location. We will use these funds to purchase building materials and paint for the library, and our class will then utilize our many talents to build and decorate it. Once completed, the Little Free Library will be placed outside the Welcome Centre for everyone to enjoy.

So...what is a Little Free Library?
It is a house-shaped box filled with free books! It is also a piece of art that will beautify our school and help to build a sense of community. It is a place to take a book, or leave a book, and to share your favourite literature and stories. To learn more about Little Free Libraries, you can visit their website. 

If you would like to donate money towards our own little library, please use the donation box at reception.

CIES: Who We Are Part VII - LINC Home Study

Many of you may know Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) is an English Language training program funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. That said, the Centre for Education & Training’s LINC Home Study program takes things a step further by providing free distance education for eligible newcomers to Canada who cannot attend LINC classes in person. What you may not know is that CIES is the only provider of LINC Home Study within the municipality of Calgary, and that our students consistently rank higher than the national average upon completion of their program, once again making the Calgary Immigrant Educational Society a leader in Immigrant Services in our city. In our 7th and final instalment of our series "Who We Are" we talk to Salman Bin Saeed about his experience with LHS.

CIES: Who We Are Part VI

The Welcome Resources Information Program (WRIP) is an initiative launched by CIES with the objective of helping new immigrants experience smooth settlement and integration into Canada. The program provides information and orientation, needs assessment and referral, along with community connections. The services are being delivered come at the pre-arrival, on arrival and post- arrival stages of an immigrant's journey to Calgary. In Part VI of our original 7 part series "Who We Are" we talk to WRIP client Kasse Kouakou Koffi , as he shares his story and experiences.

CIES: Who We Are Part V

The Drop-in ESL Program @ CIES was an original and innovative project that started in our earliest days of the organization. A program designed to help newcomers with their overall communication skills, Drop-in ESL has weekly themes and practical subjects directly related to Canadian culture, daily living, and employability skills, which aid our clients to integrate into Canadian society.The greatest part about it is you can come in a for a few hours everyday, either afternoon or evening, making it easily accessible for those who have schedules not suitable to traditional classroom hours. Funded by Alberta Human Services, it is one of our few programs even open to Canadian citizens.In Part V of our original 7 part series "Who We Are" we talk to Drop -in ESL student May Troung, as she shares her story and experiences.

CIES: Who We Are Part IV

Since 1992, primary amongst the programs offered by C.I.E.S. is the LINC program (language instruction for newcomers to Canada). Free of charge and available for refugees and newcomers to Canada, C.I.E.S. offers full time and part time, day, afternoon and evening LINC classes seven days a week. In Part IV of our original 7 part series "Who We Are" we talk to LINC student Rui Fan, as he shares his story and experiences. The LINC program is designed to assist newcomers integrate into Canadian culture through various activities and has been the cornerstone of CIES for nearly twenty-five years.

CIES: Who We Are - Part III

CIES provides practical job-ready training programs in both computers and accounting in order to enhance employability and job awareness in Canada for newcomers to Calgary. In Part III of our original 7 part series "Who We Are" we talk to Clerical Training student Ms. Iddela Malinao as she shares her story and experiences. Intermediate to Advanced courses in both computers and accounting are offered on a part time basis, both evenings and weekends, at both our SE Location in Forest Lawn and our NE location in Whitehorn.

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.