Vancouver Community College to lay off more than 70 instructors due to ESL funding cuts

More than 70 instructors are likely to lose their jobs after Vancouver Community College was forced to make severe cuts to its English-as-a-second-language programming. The cuts are the result of changes in the funding structure for ESL instruction in BC. Previously, the federal government provided BC with $22 million that the province dispersed to fund free ESL training. Now, the funding will be delivered through agreements with service delivery organizations, including not-for-profit organizations and a limited number of PSE institutions. VCC was provided with $8 million in transitional funding, but that will run out at the end of the year. “When we were given $8 million in transitional funding from the government, we didn’t realize it was a transition to zero,” said VCC Faculty Association President Karen Shortt. The cuts will affect VCC’s College Prep English, Outreach, and Professional and Career English programs; its Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada program will be unaffected. VCC News Release | CBC | Vancouver Sun (1) | Vancouver Sun (2)