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For Referring Professionals

Refer a Learner

RISE offers free English classes and one-on-one tutoring in Port Alberni, with no immigration status requirement and no assessment gate. If LINC can't serve your client, we can.

Sending a learner directly? Point them at Free English Classes.

Where RISE Fits

The Gaps We Cover

No Status Requirement

We serve everyone: temporary residents, work permit holders, international students, refugee claimants, and citizens. IRCC eligibility never comes up.

All CLB Levels

Literacy learners through CLB 5 and beyond. Learners who age out of LINC's funded levels can keep going with us.

No Assessment Gate

Learners start with a conversation, not a test. We meet them where they are and adjust as we go.

Always Free

Classes, tutoring, and citizenship test prep all cost nothing. There is no funding paperwork behind it.

One-on-One Matching

We pair learners with volunteer tutors around their goals: employment English, academic writing, foundational literacy, or conversation.

Flexible Formats

Weekly group classes in person and on Zoom, small groups when needs align, and tutoring scheduled around the learner.

When LINC Is the Right Call

LINC is the federally funded program, delivered regionally by our trusted partners at CVIMS in Nanaimo. For permanent residents and protected persons it has one big advantage: a LINC certificate at CLB 4 counts as language proof for a citizenship application. Community classes like ours do not.

If your client is LINC-eligible and needs that proof, start there. We're glad to support the same learner alongside LINC, or while they wait for a seat.

How to Refer

Two Ways In

  1. Pass Along Our Number

    Give your client 250 206-5178. A call or a text is all it takes.

  2. Or Send an Intro

    With your client's consent, email info@risealberni.org with their name, contact, and anything useful about their goals. We'll reach out directly.

  3. We Take It From There

    Intake is a conversation about goals and schedules. We match them to a class, a tutor, or both. No paperwork comes back to you.

What Your Client Gets

The Programs

Free English Classes

Beginner and intermediate group classes, Wednesday mornings in person and Thursday afternoons on Zoom, plus conversation practice.

See Free English Classes

Citizenship Test Help

Study support for the citizenship test with a real person: Discover Canada, practice questions, and English along the way.

See Citizenship Test Help

Know Someone Who'd Make a Great Tutor?

Our volunteer tutors are the whole engine. Retired teachers, strong writers, patient conversationalists: if someone comes to mind, send them our way.

Direct Line

Reach Us

Questions about fit, levels, or schedules before you refer? Write us. We answer quickly and we'll always tell you straight what we can do.