As intense plans for redevelopment move ahead in Toronto’s Regent Park and St. James Town neighbourhoods, George Brown College (GBC) is helping immigrants and newcomers ensure their voices are heard as their communities undergo significant change.
GBC’s School of ESL and Community Partnerships Office, in partnership with the Centre for Learning & Development’s (CL&D) and Immigrant Women’s Integration Program (IWIP), worked together on the development and delivery of the Public Speaking and Presentation course, focused on language and communication skill development for individual and community advocacy.
“Regent Park and St. James Town residents told us they felt left out of the public consultation and processes about significant developments happening in their communities due to language barriers,” said program lead Luba Pazyuk. “George Brown College identified a solution and took action to create an educational opportunity and to support and promote equity in community consultation processes, and the project was born.”
The Public Speaking and Presentation course kicked off in the summer of 2023 with the first cohort of 15 students. School of ESL instructor Barbara Muir delivered the program at GBC’s CL&D Regent Park location.
By the end of the course, participants said they benefited in the following ways:
- Increased their understanding of the common language used in community meetings
- Strengthened their communication skills (inflection, pacing, posture, gestures, eye contact, etc.)
- Increased confidence in raising questions and issues of concern in their community
- Grew confidence in expressing their ideas and solutions in community meetings
- Developed a community with an amazing group of people in the neighbourhood
In August, the group celebrated these successes with a graduation ceremony at the School of ESL & Immigrant Education.
George Brown College is excited to support the leadership of newcomers in shaping their communities when we welcome a second cohort of participants to this learning and community-building journey later this month.
