Clea Schmidt
University of Manitoba

Diverse Learners and Diverse Teachers in Manitoba, Canada

Briefing Notes

Manitoba Demographics and Background Information

  • Manitoba has a total provincial population of 1.2 million and a 2016 target of attracting 20,000 immigrants annually, most of whom are “visible minorities” and have first languages other than English or French.
  • Most newcomers arrive through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), a program designed to help provinces address individual labour shortages.
  • Manitoba maintains the highest child poverty rate in Canada (43,000 children living in poverty), at three percent above the national average. (Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, 2010)
  • Manitoba and Winnipeg have the greatest concentration of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (15.5% total of the province’s population). (Manitoba Education, 2011)
  • Manitoba has thirty-five school divisions, six of which are in Winnipeg, Manitoba’s largest city with a population of 800,000.
  • Education is a provincial jurisdiction in Canada.

Top Ten Source Countries for Immigrants to Manitoba / Top Ten Languages of Immigrants to Manitoba / Top Ten Occupations of Immigrants to Manitoba
  1. Philippines
  2. Germany
  3. India
  4. China
  5. Korea
  6. Ethiopia
  7. Israel
  8. United States
  9. Afghanistan
  10. England
/
  1. Tagalog
  2. German
  3. Punjabi
  4. English
  5. Russian
  6. Korean
  7. Mandarin
  8. Spanish
  9. Amharic
  10. Other African
/
  1. Welder
  2. Engineer
  3. Financial auditor & accountant
  4. Computer programmer
  5. Truck Driver
  6. Motor Vehicle Mechanic
  7. Accounting and Related Clerks
  8. Machine Tool Operators
  9. Carpenters
  10. Post-Secondary Teaching and Research Assistants

Source: The New Wave: The Immigrant Experience in Manitoba information compiled from Manitoba Immigration Facts 2006 Statistical Report

Student and Teacher Demographics

  • Manitoba has 180,000 students and 13,400 teachers in its public schools.
  • In addition to programming in English and French, Manitoba public schools offer heritage language programming in German, Hebrew, Ukrainian, Cree, Filipino, Japanese, Mandarin, Ojibwe, Portuguese, and Spanish. Fewer than 2000 students across Manitoba participate in such programming (Schmidt, forthcoming).
  • In 2008, approximately 500 public schools in thirty-two school divisions reported nearly 10,000 students eligible for EAL support.
  • Approximately 225 internationally educated teachers apply for teaching certification in Manitoba each year; on average half are denied certification outright and the remainder are given detailed requirements to meet provisional or permanent certification. These requirements can range from a few education courses to several years of university education including undergraduate degrees. In a small number of cases, applicants receive Manitoba certification with no further requirements to complete.

Programs

  • In Canada, three academic and professional bridging programsexist to support internationally educated teachers (IETs) in meeting certification requirements and resuming their careers. Additionally, the University of Manitoba offers a non-credit Mentorship Initiative for IETs who are certified and are transitioning to employment.

Bridging Programs for IETs

Simon Fraser University

University of Manitoba

Chinook Learning Services in partnership with the University of Calgary

  • Other programming integrates IETs or internationally educated teacher candidates (IETCs) into regular Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) Programs (e.g., University of British Columbia, University of Winnipeg, University of Toronto) and provides various academic, language and cultural supports within the framework of those programs.

B.Ed. Programming for IETs/IETCs

University of British Columbia

University of Winnipeg

University of Toronto’s Academic and Cultural Support Centre

Policies

  • Manitoba’s Belonging, Learning, Growing: K-12 Action Plan for Ethnocultural Equity ( articulates the need for a teaching force that reflects the diversity of student populations; however, this policy has not been well implemented at the school division level (Schmidt & Block, 2010).
  • Only one of the six Winnipeg school divisions has an employment equity policy committed to diversifying the teaching force to reflect the cultural, linguistic, and ethnic

diversity of the community (Schmidt & Block, 2010).

  • Teacher credentialing across Canada has recently been impacted by the Labour Mobility Chapter of the Agreement on Internal Trade, stipulating that a teaching certificate recognized in one Canadian jurisdiction will automatically be recognizedin other jurisdictions.

Main Issues

  • In the absence of a teacher shortage across Canada (except in particular northern and rural communities and very limited subject areas), immigrant teachers tend not to accrue political or financial priority in labour market integration agendas. Sustained funding for programming and supports is a major challenge.
  • Government immigration agendas and education agendas are not always well aligned, impeding recognition that diversifying the teaching force (e.g., through the integration of immigrant teachers) is an important strategy to respond to the needs of student populations.
  • While responsive teacher education programming exists to support immigrant teachers (Schmidt, 2010a), systemic barriers to integration (e.g.,employment and linguistic discrimination) remain prohibitive (Schmidt, 2010b).
  • Given most immigrant teachers initially obtain work in substitute teaching roles and term positions, mentoring is a challenge since most mentoring services for new teachers are available only to teachers on permanent contracts.
  • Lack of employment data for IETs means we do not have a clear sense of how many immigrant teachers are actually employed in the school system in Canada and in what capacities.

References

Research on Immigrant Teachers in Manitoba

Schmidt, C. (2010a). Towards equity for internationally educated teachers in teacher education field experiences. In T. Falkenberg & H. Smits (Eds.), Field experiences in the context of reform of Canadian teacher education programs (2 vols., pp. 359-368). Winnipeg, MB: Faculty of Education of the University of Manitoba.

Schmidt, C. (2010b). Systemic discrimination as a barrier for immigrant teachers. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 4(4), 235-252.

Schmidt, C., Young, J., & Mandzuk, D. (2010). The integration of immigrant teachers in Manitoba, Canada: Critical issues and perspectives. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 11(4), 1-14.

Schmidt, C. & Block, L. (2010). Without and within: The implications of employment and ethnocultural equity policies for internationally educated teachers. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 100, 1-23.

Manitoba Demographics and Immigration

Aboriginal People in Manitoba

Diversity and Employment Equity Fact Sheet: Manitoba’s Demographics

Ethnicity Series: A Demographic Portrait of Manitoba Volume 1, Foreign-Born Population

Manitoba Education: English as an Additional Language Support and Statistics

Manitoba Education. Two Worlds: Aboriginal Education and Employment Action Plan 2008-2011

Social Planning Council of Winnipeg: Manitoba Child Poverty Report Card 2010

The New Wave: The Immigrant Experience in Manitoba

1