Certificate in Community Support Worker

at NorQuest College - Edmonton Campus Canada

The Child and Youth Care program is designed to prepare students to support children and youth who have experienced social, behavioural, and emotional challenges. Focused on diversity, inclusion, and Indigenous culture, the program teaches students the foundational skills of child and youth care practice, as well as perspectives and strategies for supporting all children and youth in culturally respectful ways.

Students will learn the impact of physical and emotional experiences on youth and families and the importance and strength of diversity and difference, and developing professional practice. The program will train students for the child and youth care worker roles through theory-based courses and hands-on practicum experience.

Graduates will have the knowledge and skills to support children and youth in navigating lived experiences, including helping at-risk children and youth with family processes, access and success in education, physical and mental health, and addictions.

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes three practicums totalling 600 hours.

The Administrative Professional program equips you with the skills and knowledge you need to become an office professional in today’s business environment. You will learn essential office skills such as basic accounting, software applications, event management, and business communication.

Today's administrative professionals are often the voice and face of the company. They must be dynamic and able to actively lead the crucial day-to-day functions of an organization. They are able to make decisions, multi-task, solve issues, understand technology, communicate effectively, and operate an efficient office, no matter what the type of industry.

Students will explore innovative trends and practices while acquiring the skills and knowledge relevant to current and future industry needs. Our focus on a high standard of applied education prepares you to be in high demand for quality employment.

This program gives you the opportunity to achieve a career in less than a year, completing the program in five to nine months.

Student Success
Each course will take approximately 10 hours per week of time commitment to complete readings and homework in order to finish each course within 16 weeks. Take this into consideration when planning your course schedule. We do not offer extensions on assignments, tests or courses.

Practicum/Work Experience
This program includes 150 hours of optional field experience.

The Community Support Worker program is an eight-month certificate designed to develop fundamental knowledge, skills, and attitudes in students to work with marginalized communities and individuals. Graduates are expected to work at the front line of human-service delivery settings.

The following are some of the agencies and organizations that provide these services:

• Street work organizations
• Group homes
• Emergency shelters
• Settlement agencies
• Cultural organizations
• Child and family service agencies
• Indigenous service agencies
• Cultural societies
• Personal and in-home supports for persons with disabilities
• Services that support older adults

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes a 200-hour practicum and a 45-hour practicum seminar.

The Educational Assistant program prepares students to work in educational and community settings. The program focuses on diversity and inclusion, training students to support children and youth with a variety of learning needs, and helping them to reach their potential.

By providing inclusive classroom learning and hands-on practicum experience, the program equips graduates with the knowledge, interpersonal, and practical skills to support students both one-on-one and in small group environments.

The program will train students to be an education assistant through inclusive classroom learning and hands-on practicum experience. Graduates will have the knowledge, interpersonal and practical skills to support students both one-on-one and in small group environments.

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes a 200-hour practicum and a 45-hour practicum seminar.

This one-year professional certificate program will prepare you to become a leader in the food and beverage industry. Learners will be ready to manage existing establishments or take their first step in launching a business.

Environmental technicians provide an important service to society by helping protect and sustain the long-term health of our ecosystems. This two-year diploma program will prepare students for technical work in the environmental sector.

Students will gain the practical knowledge and skills needed to offer professional advice on a wide range of subjects, including: environmental impact assessment; hazardous and non-hazardous waste management; waste reduction and reuse strategies; air, soil, and water pollution prevention and monitoring; compliance auditing; and contaminated site investigation and remediation.

This skill set is based on an integrated, hands-on training program that gives graduates a good working knowledge of physical and life sciences, including general biology, ecology, toxicology, chemistry, physics, and statistics.

The program includes hands-on training in both laboratory and field settings. Students will also have the option of taking part in a co-operative work term. Following completion of the program, students will be eligible for designation as a certified technician.

NorQuest College offers an approved and accredited two-year full-time Social Work diploma program with a multicultural focus. As its mission, the program emphasizes the value of human diversity and teaches the practice of social work within an anti-oppressive framework that is supportive and empowering.

As a social worker, you may have the ability to improve the quality of life for yourself and for others through self-reflection and offering resources, services, and opportunities for your prospective clients. In addition, you will be prepared to create social change through your work and professional activities.

Program themes include:

• Competency working in different cultures
• Social work practice that recognizes and deals with oppression
• Awareness of cultural displacement issues
• Awareness of personal abilities and resiliency
• Spirituality
• Community practice
• Holistic practice
• Practice in specialized settings

Students in the Social Work program can expect to develop knowledge and skills in the following areas:

• Social work foundations
• The helping process
• Social policy
• Assessment and interviewing
• Social work models and practice
• Working with groups
• Working with families and communities
• Mental health
• Abuse, violence, and addictions

The Social Work diploma program teaches students the value of human diversity in the context of Indigenous and multicultural knowledge and practices within an anti-oppressive and ethical framework that is supportive and empowering.

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes two practicums totalling 700 hours.

The Mental Health Recovery Practitioner post-diploma certificate program provides health and human services professionals with the knowledge and skills to work with clients experiencing mental health and concurrent disorders. The program is offered in a flexible combination of online courses and live classroom instruction on evenings and weekends.

The program emphasizes acquisition of applied skills and best practices in direct client care, advocacy, ethics, and work with families and communities. A key component of the program is work in labs and practicum. The program builds upon students’ previous training and experience, and graduates are equipped to meet client and employer needs in a range of relevant settings.

Practicum/Work Experience
This program includes a practicum totalling 120 hours and 15 hours of community service learning.

NorQuest Bridging to Post-Secondary provides an opportunity to students who need additional English language or academic upgrading courses to fully meet admission requirements for a post-secondary program.

NorQuest Bridging students will

• Receive a conditional offer of admission to their target post-secondary program and be able to reserve a seat in the target program
• Work closely with an advisor to design a personalized education plan
• Have up to four terms of study to meet the conditions of their admission by completing English as a Second Language (ESL) Intensive or Academic Upgrading courses at NorQuest College
• Be able to take select courses in their post-secondary program prior to full admission
• Take skill development courses to promote academic success

Participating post-secondary programs

• ELP Band E programs
  • Accounting Technician
  • Administrative Professional
  • Business Administration
• ELP Band F programs
  • Disability Studies
  • Early Learning and Child Care
  • Environmental Protection Technology
  • Interdisciplinary Therapy Assistant
  • Settlement Studies
  • Therapeutic Recreation
• ELP Band H programs
  • Health Care Leadership
  • Practical Nurse

Energy Management is an interdisciplinary program that provides students with the skills and knowledge necessary for the growing workforce needs in the energy sector. You will learn to apply emerging renewable energy sources, understand energy efficiency, and navigate energy policy so that you can support and direct the energy needs of organizations and communities.

The program focuses on the professional side of the energy industry to rapidly familiarize students with innovative and emerging technology trends such as microgeneration, supply chain management, and community energy and emissions planning. The interdisciplinary approach of this program provides learners with a suite of skills to be effective in an industry that innovates frequently.

At the end of Year 2, students will have the option of completing a 16-week paid internship as a competitive elective.

Practicum/Work Experience

• This program includes an optional co-op placement of 600 hours.