Oct 04, 06
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Free School!!!
I posted this in my myspace blog, (www.myspace.com/angeljac) but I thought I would put it here too, if you are ever laid off and are collecting EI definately check this out!!! I never knew about it until recently now I wanna drop flyers from planes to let people know haha.
Ok from the beginning...As per my last blog, I was laid off from my full time job at Cityfone. (cell phone co.) When I first heard the news I was devastated, I was like oh fuck how am I gonna pay my rent etc. But I applied for EI and finally got my first cheque like a month and a half later, and I was planning on just taking some time off and then looking for another job. But after a conversation with my brother I discovered that people on EI are eligible for sponsorship training to go back into the work force. (ie start a career, not just another survival job which is all I've had for the past few years) Basically if approved, they will pay your tuition fees and books for any program that's under two years long. Their theory is that if they put you through school and you get a good job you will never have to go on EI again, yet keep paying into it for life, so it's an investment on their part. But as I soon found out after meeting with a case manager, there's a shit load of hoops you gotta jump through. First of all I had to attend a 2 week career planning course. During which I did a bunch of assessment tests to see where my interests and abilities are. ALL of which pointed to counselling. I have always thought about addictions counselling. So that's what I started to research. I had to fill out an enormous application form, consisting of interviews with employers in the industry, collecting job postings I could apply to after school, researching and comparing three different school options, job market information etc. So I filled the whole thing out over a course of about a month - month and a half. I realized in the end that to be a counsellor you need a bachelor's degree, so I changed course and the school I chose was aimed more at a front line job in the industry such as working in a detox centre. My whole package was aimed towards counselling so my case manager didn't like it and made me re-do it. Which I did, then when I took it back to her she still didn't fricken like it, she wasn't fully behind my decision to go for a front line job, she said I would be better off going to university and starting a degree. Of course Service Canada is not going to pay for four years of school so I didn't see that as a good option. So at this point I was fed up and I told her to just send the application in anyways and see what happens, so she did. (it was about 2 months of work in total) She told me it can take up to six weeks for the application to be approved so I thought there was no way I would be starting school on their first start date of October 2nd. Low and behold a WEEK later I get a call that I've been approved!!! So I am starting October 2nd and I'm friggen stoked!!! I'm going to remain on EI until it runs out in June and then Service Canada will give me a little bit of money to pay my rent from then until I grad in August. So...the government is paying my tuition, my books, and my rent. And my uncle just bought me a new computer for school. Me = Spoiled. Losing my job was the best thing to ever happen to me!! 
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Oct 04, 06
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!congrats
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Oct 04, 06
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all I have to say is good luck.... however don't let the government brainwash you.... my father is on disablity 2 assistance however is still capable of working primarily and office environment (light work).... He was going to go for a shitload of computer type courses and such. He got a whole bunch of paper work and such and applied over at the college because they said they were fund it.... At first the government was all in support and shit but then they turned down everything.... He also knows of people that ended up taking a course and such only for government to pay maybe a few weeks maybe a month or 2 and then slash your funds.... So mark my words. DO NOT COUNT ON THE GOVERNMENT.... They will nail your ass to the floor... When your down they want to leave you there.... So they are going to play with your feelings.... Best thing you can do for yourself is get a part time job or something and pay for courses for yourself....
Don't say I warned you..... That is all...
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Oct 04, 06
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Yup Monday was my first day, btw I'm going to CDI college downtown for their addictions worker program, I don't think I mentioned that.
It's going great so far, the first couple weeks are "intro to computers" so kinda boring but really easy. (excel, word, powerpoint) The real stuff starts at the end of the month, until May, then I do a 3 month practicum and grad in August. I was going to attach the course outline but the file is too big, pm me if you're interested. (they don't post it on their website, their website sucks actually) And as far as not counting on the government, in this case I went in to meet with Service Canada and signed documents saying they will pay my tuition in 3 payments, in full. How could they legally back out of that and cut me off? EI is a little more sketchy, they did say they will extend it for the last couple months until I grad but I'm not 100% counting on that. And I CAN'T get a job. I needed to be on EI in order to qualify for this funding, if I get a job where I work more than 20 hours per week I will get kicked off it. If i work less than 20 hours per week I'm only allowed to make 100 dollars/2 weeks more than what I make on EI (662 every 2 weeks) then they start deducting dollar for dollar so it's soooo not worth it to work for only 100 every 2 weeks. But thanks for the concern...Hopefully I will be ok!
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