Registered in Canada, the Ottawa United Learning Academy (OULA), along with its Ottawa Multicultural Club, and Denfar Transnational Development (Denfar, previously Transco Global) produce a journal of Transnational Corporation Reviews (TNCR), practicing Ottawa International Students Entrepreneurship (OISE), as well as providing cultural and business development services. The OULA is a not-for-profit organization, with its Multicultural Club created in July 2001 to serve as a center for individuals and communities interested in Oriental languages, businesses, and culture. This organization encourages Chinese people overseas to participate in cross-cultural activities in their local community, enrich the life of individuals, and promote cultural exchanges between Canada, China and the rest of the world.

The OULA conducts the programs and services to include many cross-cultural activities that focus on Oriental cultural studies and exchanges. The OULA enhances knowledge, skills, and the personal development of participants by encouraging them to expand their Oriental studies and cultural interests. The organization also places an emphasis on cultural adjustment for newcomers as they adapt to a new culture and language. By providing students with small class sizes with no more than ten students to one instructor, individuals have a greater opportunity to develop their language skills and cultural interests. The staff's wide range of expertise and talents create an enthusiastic, interactive and personalized learning environment. The instructors all have Masters Degrees as a minimum requirement, and have taken further qualified courses in areas of specialization, such as Mandarin and Oriental arts. Since 2007, the OULA has collaborated with Denfar Transnational Development to produce an international journal of Transnational Corporation Reviews, and conducted a series of seminars and workshops related to multicultural and transnational businesses and developments.

1. What does the OULA want to do? Along with a number of partners, including Denfar, the OULA currently produces a journal of Transnational Corporation Reviews with a series of workshops and seminars related to multicultural and transnational businesses. These activities foster cultural exchange and skill sharing between Chinese-Ontarians and the wider community. It is the OULA’s objective that participants will increase their capacity as volunteers, as well as their employment potential, and they will also find opportunities for increased community engagement. These learning-based projects would reduce the isolation felt by many members of the overseas Chinese community as they face the challenges of integrating into mainstream society.

2. Who will do the work？The OULA is a leading organization in this field of work because it operated successful learning programs for both overseas Chinese and local Canadians who are interested in Oriental culture and businesses. The City of Ottawa, the Ontara Trillium Foundation, Canada Periodical Fund, and many others have funded this organization for a number of years. The OULA is dedicated to developing customized learning programs for students, learners, newcomers, and young entrepreneurs, including seminars, workshops, and individual tutoring. It offers participants the opportunity to develop intercultural understanding and knowledge of transnational business, particularly that of East Asia and its diaspora.

3. How will it be done? A recent OULA survey found that more than 90 percent of the students surveyed at the School of Business at Carleton University are highly interested in participating in seminars and workshops geared to helping them participate in business activities between Canada and China. In the development and planning stages, staff and volunteers facilitate communication about the programs and services to OULA members, partnering groups, and other participants. In the implementation stage, sponsors and members increase program participation by circulating and posting program-related information on the websites and local newspapers. Finally, the partner organizations help to evaluate the success of the projects by conducting a participant survey right after the program ends.

4. What will be different as a result of the work? While there are some academic courses related to multicultural and transnational business, learning-based projects targeted at young entrepreneurs in multicultural and transnational fields remain rare. In the past thirty years, China's economy has grown more than that of any other country. China recently overtook Japan as the world’s second largest economy, and is expected to pass the United States by 2030. China also recently surpassed Germany as the world’s largest exporter and is now the globe’s leading consumer of automobiles. Our projects identify and address the unique needs of a fast-growing sector of the population who either originated from China and other Asian countries or who are interested in Oriental culture and transnational business. They actively enhance the social inclusion of this target group and draw attention to cultural exchanges and business development. The projects also bring aspects of Oriental culture to non-Oriental Canadians.

5. Who will benefit? The direct beneficiaries of our programs and projects are students in cultural studies, management, communications, economics, business, and the arts who are about to graduate and who are looking for employment or self-employment. Governments and business people that do work related to Asian policy and practice are also expected to benefit. In the long run, the positive outcomes of these projects could be shared by senior researchers, policy makers, and social workers to improve cultural and business relations between Asian countries, particularly China, and other countries. The projects mostly benefit overseas Chinese and Canadian citizens who are interested in Asian culture and business. Its social and cultural activities increase Chinese participation and contribution to the wider community.

6. What will be the lasting impact of the initiative? Our learning-based projects with other cultural and business initiatives have a lasting positive impact. China is one of Canada’s largest trading partners, and many of Ontario’s unemployed or underemployed youth, newcomers, and university graduates either speak Chinese (an immeasurable asset) or have an abiding interest in Chinese culture and business opportunities. The projects provide practical learning to bridge the gap between education and career development. It also enhances long-term cultural and business relations between Canada and China, the importance of which was underlined by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent trip to the country.

7. Why does this need to be done now? China has been leading the world out of the recent global recession, according to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) publication “Economic Surveys: China 2010”. Our projects open up unprecedented employment and economic opportunities in multiculturalism, enhancing the capacity for trade, investment, and other mutually beneficial cooperation with China at a crucial time in its growth. Already the world’s second largest economy, China could well overtake the United States as the world’s leading producer of manufactured goods in the next five to seven years. Such accelerated development will not continue without changed notions of global competition and cooperation. If carried out now, these learning initiatives help put Canada ahead of the curve.  

8. Why is the OULA the right organization to do this? The OULA is a non-profit organization created in 2001 for individuals and communities interested in Oriental languages, culture, and business. The OULA’s programs and services promote cultural exchange between Canada and China, encouraging overseas Chinese and newcomers to participate in cross-cultural activities. Since its establishment, the organization has obtained a great deal of experience in conducting popular and successful seminars and workshops. For example, the OULA’s August news release for a workshop on Chinese culture elicited up to one hundred calls, with - more people enrolling in the various activities than was expected.