Dozens of immigrants who landed technology jobs in Ottawa, then lost them amid thousands of layoffs in the industry, have found new jobs with help from a special language training course.

About 240 people have taken the enhanced language training program run by the Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre over the past two years. They were recognized Wednesday night at a special gala.

Ying Xie, program manager for employment support at the centre, said its services target technology and business professionals from 28 countries, about 80 per cent of its clients have found jobs. It teaches more than just business lingo, but cultural expectations in meeting and interview situations, he said.

"This program is designed so industry specialists, they come in to expose them [clients] to the workplace culture."

It also provides networking opportunities. The program includes 12 weeks of classroom training and a four to eight week placement to get to know the Canadian workplace.

Xie said back in days when companies like Nortel were snapping up workers in Ottawa, immigrants' education and technical skills were enough to land a job.

"At that time…the language requirements, the communication skills [were] not so key," he said. "Then the recession comes — they are the first to [be shown] the door. So keeping a job in the company is also one of the focus of these programs."

Business culture

Michael Li lost his job at Dell when it shut down its Ottawa call centre two years ago. He managed to land a job with the federal government after going through the ELT program.

Li said he studied in the U.S., but to integrate into the local job market, he really needed to know how Canadians operate in a business setting.

"I got a lot of information from this ELT program," he said.

Wonly Liang, a software developer who used the centre's services and now works at the Ottawa Hospital, credits the program for giving her the tools she needed to land a job after doing postdoctoral work at a local university.

"I start to build my confidence and I got a lot of support for…how to write a resume, how to practice for the interview," she said, "So for me this was a very good start."

The programs at the community centre receive funding from the Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ontario's Ministry of Immigration, the province's Trillium Foundation, the United Way, and private fundraising.