Mario Calla and Federal Government

language classes: So a difficult decision had to be made, said Mario Calla, the executive director of Costi, which settles government-assisted refugees in Toronto, according to CTV. Rather than scale back the number of classes altogether, they decided to just stop offering their 27 federally-funded courses over the summer. "Our hands are tied," Calla said. "It a compromise situation." Federal funding for language classes is tied to the number of immigrants agencies served the year before. Settlement agencies told a House of Commons committee Thursday that while the federal government did top up their budgets to deal with the influx of over 25,000 Syrians in a matter of three months, the money isn't going far enough. The base funding for 2016-2017 did not take into account the surge in Syrian refugees, who proved eager to access programs. They've cut 200 spots from their program because they lost federal funding. While Costi is trying to link Syrians up with provincial courses and other programs, that doesn't cover all the bases, Calla said. "Usually the women get cheated in that process because child minding isn't available." In Vancouver, there are over 800 new immigrants on wait lists for language classes, said Karen Shortt, the president of the Vancouver Community College Faculty Association. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.