ABC Life Literacy Canada

By Stuart Foxman

Since arriving in Toronto from Vietnam 11 years ago, Linh Lac has struggled with English. She works as a steward handling dishwashing and room setup for the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC), where her English has been good enough to get by, though not to get ahead.

Specialized language training makes perfect business sense at Metro Toronto Convention Centre: (from left) source graduate Linh Lac, Chief Steward Ed Dinnall and CEO Barry Smith
(D. Oliver, CP Images)

But lately, Lac’s language skills have shown a marked improvement. Ed Dinnall, her Chief Steward, used to have to spend time explaining priorities, or even showing her what needed to be done. Now, he can just hand her a function sheet, and she’ll take it from there. Lac’s abilities and confidence in English have risen to the point that Dinnall can see her becoming a lead hand, in charge of a crew.

What happened? In October 2007, Lac was among the first group of MTCC employees to take a Specialized Language Training (SLT) program, offered at work through the Toronto District School Board.

“Some of our staff have struggled with job training and weren’t moving forward,” says Barry Smith, MTCC’s Chief Executive Officer. “It posiwasn’t because they didn’t have the intelligence, but because they lacked the language skills.”

MTCC employees come from more than 40 countries and speak 70 languages and dialects, reports Human Resources Manager Karen Wood. Having so many staff speaking English as a second language presents a workplace-literacy issue.

Wood and Esther Lee, Vice-President of HR and Administration, had looked into private language instruction, but, given other training priorities, the cost was prohibitive. Then they heard of the SLT training Toronto’s school board has tailored to the hospitality and skilled-trades sectors since April 2007. Ontario’s Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration funds the program, so participating employers pay nothing in direct costs.

Phase One of the training at MTCC ran from October to December 2007, and Phase Two started in March 2008. The first eight participants in total received 180 hours of training from an English as a Second Language instructor. Donella Gilhooly, who helps run the program for the school board, says the participants should leave speaking English fluently, and with “significant” improvements in reading and writing.

For MTCC, a partnership model was key. While the school board covers training costs through its government funding, MTCC has invested, too. On the days of the four-hour classes, staff work for six hours of their eight-hour shifts, but are paid for all eight. Essentially, MTCC pays them for two of the four hours they spend in class, with the other two hours of instruction on the employees’ own time.

“We’re making an investment, and the employees are also investing,” says Wood. The arrangement accords with her belief that employers, employees and government have a joint responsibility to support the development of a skilled workforce.

The union representing MTCC workers is also enthusiastic about the language training. Stella Zacharia of Local 506 of the Labourers International Union of North America says her membership had been asking the union for English courses, and that having training right at the MTCC offers maximum convenience.

Born in Cyprus and once a server at MTCC, Zacharia knows how deficiencies in English can be a barrier to full involvement in both the workforce and society. The benefits of SLT are varied, she says. Participants will emerge with an improved understanding of workplace issues, a better ability to train, more opportunities for advancement, greater self-esteem and the chance to become more engaged with their communities. Employers who offer language and literacy support, moreover, end up with more effective staff and can benefit from being seen as an employer of choice. “Better educated and trained employees are good for the union and employer,” Zacharia adds. “We need to work as a team to help people learn the language of the workplace.”

Lac, certainly, relishes the training opportunity, and says her new ability to use and understand English is definitely helping her inside and outside of work. “It’s very important to me to improve my English.”

For Smith, it’s not only important; it’s a business priority. With Canada’s fast-growing immigrant workforce, he believes business leaders need to think about how they should offer language training. “Just as you train people in technical or customer-service skills, you have to train them to be more literate,” he says. “You can say you have no moral obligation to offer this training, and that others in the community provide it, but the fact is that it’s in your business self-interest.”

This article is from the new ABC CANADA publication, Training Matters. Distributed in the April 28 issue of Canadian Business magazine, it will soon be available on this website. Copies can also be requested at info@abc-canada.org