Empowering Newcomers in Management | Programs for Newcomers to Canada | Seneca Students

Seneca College offers government-funded workplace communication courses for newcomers.  OSLT (Occupation-specific Language Training) courses were created with feedback from employers, faculty and participants. 

The OSLT Professional Managers course was designed to help professionals gain the language and communication skills needed to function effectively as managers in the Canadian business or technical sectors.  The 140-hour course draws on the wealth of knowledge and experience students bring to the classroom while promoting discussions on communicating as managers in a culturally diverse work environment.

Students attend virtual classes twice a week as well as work through course material independently. 

One student commented, “I've found this course very useful and practical for newcomers like me who want to be successful in the Canadian workplace. Our instructor and the course materials help us to understand the differences between soft skills and technical skills.”

Throughout the course, students complete activities like summarizing a discussion, presenting ideas, writing professional emails, networking and connecting with employers and employment resources.

After working on their email writing-skills during the course, a student said, “This has improved my operation in my office and my boss commended my improvement and promptness to respond to email and my accuracy in the use of words in my writing.”

Seneca College will be offering the OSLT Business Entrepreneurship, Sales and Marketing course in January 2022 for newcomers with a background in the sales sector.  Students that have completed an OSLT course successfully are eligible to take the 40-hour OSLT Writing Professionally course offered in the winter semester.

To be eligible for OSLT, students need to be Permanent Residents or Convention Refugees, (not Canadian citizens or Refugee Claimants), have a Canadian Language Benchmark level 6 – 8, and have prior work experience or training in the sector.

For more information, please visit: https://www.senecacollege.ca/ce/oslt/#OSLTSchedule