The training courses that AAISA offers have been delivered for over a decade and have been designed specifically for the unique challenges that settlement practitioners face in their day-to-day work. Our training has been created to align with the Alberta Settlement Practitioner Competency Framework and to contribute to the ongoing professional development of settlement practitioners. As the settlement sector is changing, we are also changing and improving our courses.
Additionally, AAISA offers the only program in Canada that provides certification to qualified Settlement Practitioners. AAISA’s Settlement Practitioner Training Program was established in 1989 to recognize the professional accomplishments of Canadian Settlement Practitioners who meet a set of standard qualification.
September 22, 2023 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Free for members
Online Facilitated
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course is designed to help clients understand the concepts, nature and impact of stigma
and discrimination on clients with mental health needs.
It covers issues on how stigma and discrimination affect clients in accessing mental health
support, the skills and strategies to improve service provider and client interactions in mental
health support.
April 12, 2023 | Ends May 16, 2022 | Free for members
Online, Self-Paced
This self-paced course, developed in partnership with ActionDignity and Rural Development Network (RDN), will allow front-line settlement workers to gain an understanding of
challenges that multi-barriered clients face, learn to apply an intersectional lens when identifying multiple barriers that clients may experience, enhance their skills in evaluating
multi-barriered clients’ needs, become aware of best practices in working with multi-barrier clients, and become familiar with methods and tools to be used when working with multibarriered clients.
Starts April 24, 2023 | Ends June 09, 2023 | Free for members
Online, Self-Paced
Les participants vont se familiariser avec les connaissances, les compétences et les outils nécessaires afin de mieux servir les nouveaux arrivants francophones ayant des besoins en santé mentale Nous examinerons les diverses définitions et termes liés à la santé mentale, les nombreux facteurs ayant une incidence sur la santé mentale des nouveaux arrivants francophones, ainsi que les défis et les obstacles qui entravent l’ accès aux services de santé mentale
des nouveaux arrivants francophones et de leurs familles. Le cours explorera plus en détails les responsabilités et les limites des conseillers d’établissement de première ligne, les ressources essentielles et les possibilités de soins disponibles afin de mieux diriger les clients, ainsi que les méthodes de communication efficaces pour évaluer, comprendre et aider les familles de nouveaux arrivants. Nous examinerons également les stratégies afin d’ empêcher les travailleurs de l’établissement de souffrir de fatigue, de compassion et d’épuisement émotionnel et professionnel.
Starts May 03, 2023 | Ends June 14, 2023 | Free for members
Online, Self-Paced
This course is aimed at providing a broad understanding of the psychosocial problems among refugees resettled in Canada. It is intended to equip practitioners with additional emotional resilience, and therapeutic sensitivity and knowledge to be able to design psychosocial activities/programs among refugees and explore treatment options and service utilization among resettled refugees in Canada. This will not only support the refugee’s learning outcomes and healing, but also help enhance practitioners’ effectiveness and their well-being. This course would explore modules such as understanding a trauma-informed approach to service delivery, understanding the psychosocial needs of refugees (children, women, men, families, LGBTQ2+), common mental health issues in refugees, crisis management, mental health and the law and the ABCs of vicarious trauma and burnout.
Starts May 15, 2023 | Ends June 02, 2023 | Free for members
Online, Facilitated
This five (5) module course will building upon Part 1 of the Foundations of Case Management in Settlement Practice. It will offer participants insight into the various methods of needs assessment and the importance of cultural competence and self/community care. In addition, this course will introduce them to various approaches to practice, including task-centered crises intervention, and trauma-informed approaches, and. In each of the modules we will consider issues of power,
oppression, and social justice as well as discuss key skills that service providers can use to challenge oppressive practices within the case management process.
Starts June 07, 2023 | Ends June 13, 2023 | Free for members
Online, Facilitated
This course is aimed at providing introduction to different types of SGBV, identify root causes, modes, and prevalence of such forms of violence impacting disproportionally women, transgender, queer, racialized, and disabled newcomers using an intersectional lens . It will review the unique experiences and stories of immigrant and refugee survivors of SGBV and assist participants to develop the skills and knowledge on how to handle disclosures of SGBV and practical guidance on psychosocial support for individuals affected by SGBV. It will also explore the factors that contribute to the occurrence and existence of gender-based violence in complex emergencies, including conflict zones and natural disasters and equip practitioners with skills, practical tools, and methods on how to integrate SGBV awareness
Starts June 14, 2023 | Ends June 16, 2023 | Free for members
Online, Facilitated
This course is aimed at providing introduction to the Canadian Immigration System,
review Canadian immigration history, immigration policies and trends. It will focus on discussing current issues related to immigration, it’s impact on newcomers, address the ways to overcome those challenges. Additionally, it will be describe immigrants’ categories and streams, ways to review the application process for key immigration streams including supporting applicants at all stages of the application procedures.
Participants will become familiar with the functions of Service Provider Organizations (SPOs). They will consider the relationship between functions of SPOs and the functions of general community service providers. They will explore the roles and responsibilities of settlement practitioners. Participants will examine Guiding Principles for Settlement Practitioner Practice and consider their applicability to settlement work. Participants will also consider several relevant Codes of Ethics documents and analyze three ethical/practice issues: Personal/professionalboundaries; Confidentiality and consent, and Conflict of Interest.
Notify me when this course is offeredThe Basic Counselling Skills in a Cross-Cultural Context Course is intended to help Settlement Practitioners define their counselling role with clients they serve and help them to recognize to develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge to be effective in that role.
Course Objective:The course will provide participants with a both the theoretical and practical knowledge to provide basic counselling skills to their clientele.
Notify me when this course is offeredThis module is intended as a practical introduction to concepts and strategies that are useful when working with interpreters. Participants will be introduced to the concepts of interpreting theory, modes of delivery (simultaneous and consecutive), ethical practices, codes of conduct, and strategies for assessing the qualifications of interpreters. The workshop is highly interactive and provides participants the opportunity to apply the concepts and theories presented in the workshop.
Notify me when this course is offeredThe Needs Assessment and Action Plans (NAAP) online e-Learning course is intended to enable settlement practitioners to conduct needs assessments and to assist people in developing individualized goals and action plans appropriate to culture and life experience.
Notify me when this course is offeredby the end of this online course Participants will become familiar with various concepts related to acculturation, settlement,
acculturative stress (culture shock), post-traumatic stress, and the role of settlement agencies in
Alberta related to settlement and transition processes. They will also become familiar with challenges that occur during settlement and learn strategies to address these challenges.
Notify me when this course is offeredIn response to the barriers newcomers face when accessing prevention and sexual health information, AAISA and the Calgary Sexual Health Centre have been working together to develop a robust partnership that leverages the strengths of each to advance improved outcomes for newcomers in the area of sexual health and diversity. This Management Training session is co-developed and co-facilitated by AAISA and Calgary Sexual Health Centre to introduce participants to LGBTQ+ issues and needs within their work context, and will help to build understanding of how to become allies in creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ colleagues and clients.
Notify me when this course is offeredAt the end of this course, the learners will have an understanding of: • The volunteer involvement cycle and the value of a comprehensive approach to the volunteer management process • Volunteer motivation and the implications for position design, recruitment and volunteer management • The need for pre-recruitment planning and of the required planning tasks • The types of risks incurred by engaging volunteers, and the importance of being proactive by establishing policies and procedures to minimize these risks • Best practices in volunteer recruitment, placement and management • The range of mechanisms that can be used to publicize recruitment needs • The benefits of thoroughly orienting and training volunteers • How to effectively support and empower volunteers • How to evaluate volunteer performance, and provide correction when needed • The necessity of developing policies and procedures on a wide range of volunteer management topics
Notify me when this course is offeredParticipants in this module will develop a deeper understanding of management and organizational change in multicultural organizations. They will critique the organization of their agencies and review the organization structure of other agencies in Alberta
Notify me when this course is offeredThe course will equip Settlement Practitioners with best practices, resources, and effective strategies when advocating for clients around crisis intervention and conflict resolution. Participants will enhance interpersonal, communications, assessment skills and strategies required to deal with crises and conflict. Learners will also develop skills to create strong support systems for clients that are managing significant change, cultural shock, and crisis. The course will increase participant’s knowledge in the basic principles of intervention for Settlement Practitioners, will enhance their critical thinking skills, and will deepen knowledge of appropriate resources and approaches to increase effective practice. Using a facilitative and collaborative approach, the course will provide an opportunity to share the participants’ practice experience, co-learn as a group, and strengthen skills of crisis intervention and conflict management
Notify me when this course is offeredThis module is intended as an introduction to community development practice. Through pre-session visits to community development sites, reading, and classroom activities, participants will gain knowledge about major concepts, principles and values, specialized skills and knowledge, and various processes in community development. They will learn about three community development models: locality development, social planning, and social action. Through case studies and participation in experiential learning activities, participants will be able to apply their acquired knowledge and skills in various contexts of practice to address community issues. The final assignment will be a short paper based on the practical application of the learning from this module.
Notify me when this course is offeredThis module is intended as an introduction to advocacy and outreach. Through pre-session reading, research, critical reflection, and classroom activities, participants will gain knowledge about key concepts, principles and values, skills, models, and processes related to advocacy and outreach. With respect to advocacy, participants will critically examine the prominent models of advocacy, namely: best interest advocacy, enabling advocacy, client-centered advocacy, and participant-controlled advocacy. They will also explore and apply advocacy processes to address community issues. With respect to outreach, participants will examine key elements of effective community-based outreach. They will further explore and apply outreach processes and strategies in working with immigrants and refugees. Through concrete case studies and participation in experiential learning activities, participants will be able to apply their acquired knowledge and skills in various contexts of practice to address community issues.
Notify me when this course is offeredThis module is intended as a practical introduction to processes used in identifying community needs as a basis for planning programs. Participants will work with a case study of a current community need/issue and identify background information needed to develop a response. Participants will research and collect information and work in teams to develop a project initiative. The teams will identify project partners and an approach to collaboration. They will then develop project outcomes, indicators, and data collection methods. As a final task, project teams will develop and present a proposal outline for their initiative.
Notify me when this course is offeredWorking with Refugees with Complex Needs 2L (adapted) This module, previously delivered under the title Working with Individuals and Families with Special and Complex Needs, has been adapted to address the current context of Settlement Practitioners and sector professionals as they welcome increased numbers of refugees with complex needs in the settlement process. Using a series of case studies based on the current demographics of clients, participants will identify complex factors that present challenges to integration. Participants will create a resource map of current community supports, examine action-planning, and case management strategies and identify gaps in community resources. In the final activity, participants will develop an action plan (a combination of key supports, community resources and strategies) for their client(s). They will identify gaps in community resources and make suggestions for possible advocacy actions.
Notify me when this course is offeredThe primary objective of this module is to enable participants to gain introductory-level knowledge and hands-on experiences, around the processes of helping people learn in small groups. Participants will explore various adult learning styles and approaches to teaching adults. The influence of a facilitator’s values in small groups will be discussed. Basic respectful communication skills for facilitators will be considered and practiced. Participants will address aspects of group dynamics and “on-your-feet” challenges. There will be optional opportunities for participants to facilitate short segments of class time. An introductory-level model for planning sessions will be used for the evaluated learning activity: writing a brief plan for a three-hour session, focussing on the facilitation processes and not on content. Time in class will be provided for participants to review and revise their plans before they are submitted. Overall, the module will demonstrate a participatory approach to adult education.
Notify me when this course is offeredThis module helps participants get a clearer idea of the issues of anti-racism and to develop the knowledge and skill set required to identify sources of racism and respond effectively to it. Participants will review Canadian history and government policies that have effected minority groups both negatively or positively. Participants will become aware of the psychology of anti-racism and methods of advocating for clients.
Notify me when this course is offeredThis module provides an introduction to the Canadian immigration system for Settlement Practitioners. Participants will learn about Canadian immigration history, immigration policies and trends, and discuss current issues related to immigration. The module will assist practitioners to provide accurate information to clients, and engage in informed discussion of current policies and issues. Resource materials for the module are available online and links appear within each of the tasks.
Notify me when this course is offeredParticipants will develop a deeper understanding of the concepts of ‘ethnic group’ and ‘cultural group’. They will: • Examine information regarding the definition and categories of ethnic groups currently in Canada • Explore ways of gathering and presenting authentic, respectful information about cultural/ethnic groups in the community • Reflect on issues related to stereotyping • Practice presentation skills
Notify me when this course is offered