$3.3M pledged for training
After teaching math in her native Romania, Cristina Popescu and her husband moved to Calgary expecting her master’s degree in mathematics would help her land a job as a high school math teacher here.
Popescu had done her homework. The University of Calgary’s transition to Alberta classrooms program could help her get her teaching accreditation.
But when she arrived in 2008 and learned she would need 15 university courses costing estimated $15,000, Popescu was shocked.
Even working two jobs while studying full-time, Popescu said she couldn’t afford to complete the training.
In 2009 she turned to the Immigrant Access Fund Society of Alberta for a $5,000 loan.
“I wouldn’t be here at this moment teaching,” said Popescu, who is now a math teacher at Sir Winston Churchill High School.
“It was tough. I had millions of second thoughts if I should do that, but there wasn’t another way to accomplish my dreams,” she said of taking the loan, which she has since paid.
The federal government is pledging $3.3 million to the Immigrant Access Fund Society of Alberta over the next two years to help increase its ability to offer similar loans to immigrants.
The repayable loans of up to $10,000 each help immigrants cover the costs of training courses and licensing exams so their foreign credentials can be recognized here.
Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley acknowledged the labour challenges facing Alberta when she made the funding announcement in Calgary on Wednesday.
“If we have foreign trained professionals, we want to make sure their skills and talents are being put to use in their field because that is needed here. ... This is a help to get them over what can often be a big barrier in helping them get their credentials recognized,” Finley said.