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March 17, 1999

Dr. Emoke Szathmáry, President of the University of Manitoba and Mrs. Ndeye Fall, representative of the Director General of UNESCO in Canada, along with other dignitaries, officially opened the UNEVOC – Canada Centre today at a ceremony held at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Education. The Centre will be the Canadian focal point for technical and vocational education and will work in partnership with other centres around the world, as well as with numerous public, private and non-profit sector partners, to create a network that will facilitate communication, information exchange and collaboration among all stakeholders involved in technical and vocational education.

At the opening it was announced that UNEVOC – Canada will be receiving $150,000 from Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) for funding the Youth International Internship Project.  This is a big step forward which will enable UNEVOC to set up 10 internships.

Approved Projects for UNEVOC – Canada

Initial start-up funding for the UNEVOC – Canada’s projects, in the amount of $60,000, has been provided by Manitoba Education and Training’s Research and Innovation Fund.

UNEVOC – Canada has undertaken an ambitious youth international internship project funded through the Youth International Program of Human Resources Development Canada. Youth International is part of the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy, which helps young Canadians access career information, learning opportunities and work experience.

The program, developed in partnership with the University of Manitoba’s Faculties of Education and Engineering, as well as the the Institut national polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG) in France, is directed toward underemployed and unemployed graduates of the two faculties. The duration of the internship is four to five months and participants will be paired with companies or institutions, initially in France and eventually in other European countries. It is anticipated that this Youth International Internship Program will assist participants in acquiring employment in the desired field upon their return to Canada.

UNEVOC – Canada has also submitted a proposal to the Office of Learning Technologies (OLT) at HRDC requesting a $25,000 grant to develop a business plan for a Community Learning Network dedicated to lifelong learning in technical and vocational education. This network will address the training needs of the unemployed, of displaced workers and of other disadvantaged groups. Through interaction with the community and through personal and Internet-based contact, the UNEVOC – Canada Centre will be able to provide a one-stop smart-service-centre for technical and vocational education in Canada.  The proposal has been forwarded to the Minister of Human Resources Development Canada, Pierre Pettigrew.