April 29, 2005 Moncton, New Brunswick Francophone students registered at the Bathurst, Campbellton, and Acadian Peninsula campuses of the New Brunswick Community College will have access to a wider range of distance training courses. The $556,816 contribution by the Government of Canada to four new distance education pilot projects was announced today by Jean-Claude D'Amours, M.P. for Madawaska- Restigouche, on behalf of the Honourable Joseph McGuire, Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), and the Honourable David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry. "These projects will provide students with an opportunity to improve their skills through new distance education courses," said Mr. D'Amours. "These pilot projects will also help the New Brunswick Community College to improve its infrastructure in distance learning and training in order for our communities to have the tools they need to ensure their economic development." "I am very happy to see that New Brunswick Francophones will have increased access to distance education," stated Margaret-Ann Blaney, Minister of Training and Employment Development. "Greater use of training and education technologies is one of the priorities of the Prosperity Plan and will help equip New Brunswickers to meet the challenges of modern society." The four distance education pilot projects to be offered by the New Brunswick Community College will provide courses in such fields as international trade, mathematics, supervisory/foreman training in various industries, and medical transcription certification. These projects were approved under the Government of Canada's Action Plan for Official Languages, as part of the distance learning and training component that ACOA and Industry Canada are responsible for delivering in Atlantic Canada. The Government of Canada's Action Plan for Official Languages, announced in March 2003, included an accountability and coordination framework as well as investments of more than $750 million in education, official-language minority community development and the federal public service. FOR ELECTRONIC MEDIA: Francophone students registered at the Bathurst, Campbellton, and Acadian Peninsula campuses of the New Brunswick Community College will have access to a wider range of distance training courses. The $556,816 contribution by the Government of Canada to four new distance education pilot projects was announced today by Jean-Claude D'Amours, M.P. for Madawaska- Restigouche, on behalf of the Honourable Joseph McGuire, Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), and the Honourable David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry. According to Mr. D'Amours, these pilot projects will help the New Brunswick francophone community to increase its skills through distance education and will give our communities the tools they need to ensure their economic development. The pilot projects have been approved under the Government of Canada Action Plan for Official Languages, announced in March 2003. -30- Valérie Poulin Director of Communications Office of the Honourable Joseph McGuire Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (613) 941-7241 Christiane Fox Office of the Honourable David L. Emerson Minister of Industry (613) 995-9001 Étienne Allard Senior Communications Officer Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (506) 851-2893 Shawn Hearn Marketing and Public Information Director Training and Employment Development (506) 453-2568 Backgrounders on the Pilot Projects Distance education project at NBCC - Bathurst The project proposed by the New Brunswick Community College, Bathurst campus, in cooperation with the Université Sainte-Anne, in Nova Scotia, is designed to give Francophones on-line access to the eight international trade courses of the Forum for International Trade Training (FITT), by means of a virtual immersive 3D world developed by NBCC-Bathurst. A $200,000 contribution has been approved for this pilot project. Distance education project at NBCC - Péninsule acadienne The project proposed by the New Brunswick Community College, Acadian Peninsula campus, is aimed at creating and indexing learning objects for the on-line teaching of mathematics. A $160,000 contribution has been approved for this pilot project. Distance education project at NBCC - Campbellton The project proposed by the New Brunswick Community College, Campbellton campus, in cooperation with the Dieppe campus, is aimed at developing learning modules for the on- line training of foremen in various industries. A $132,416 contribution has been approved for this pilot project. Distance education project at NBCC - Campbellton The project proposed by the New Brunswick Community College, Campbellton campus, is aimed at developing eight on-line courses leading to certification in medical transcription. At present, NBCC-Campbellton is the only French-language community college offering training in this field. A $64,400 contribution has been approved for this pilot project.
