Surrey Schools highlights Welcome Centre for World Refugee Day

Surrey Schools is marking World Refugee Day by highlighting the critical work done by our district’s Welcome Centre in helping those who have sought safety in Canada.

Created to support newcomers and refugees with the transition into the school system and community, the Surrey Schools Welcome Centre offers a variety of integration services including English language and registration support, digital literacy assistance and mental health services.

“The settlement journey looks different for each family so we work with them to make sure we’re matching the services to their needs,” said Welcome Centre manager Parampal Sharma.

With a team of staff that speaks more than 30 languages, the centre is able to connect with a wide range of immigrant and refugee families, many of which have endured challenging journeys before landing in Surrey.

“Some of our staff have their own lived experiences as newcomers and may have gone through similar journeys,” said Sharma. “So they bring a lot of rich knowledge and experience to the table when it comes to engaging those families. 

The key, said Sharma, is to engage families early.

“Studies have shown that the earlier the engagement, the more beneficial it will be for them,” she said.

And just as the district is seeing explosive growth in student numbers, the same can also be said of the Welcome Centre and its clients.

Until recently, the number of individuals served has typically hovered around 10,000 per school year. However, more than 16,000 newcomers sought support during the 2023-2024 school year.

The top five countries Welcome Centre refugees arrived from this year were: Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.

“Those were mostly government-assisted refugees,” said Sharma. “In fact, of all the government-assisted refugees that arrived in B.C. last year, 82 per cent of them came to Surrey.”

A key reason  may be due to the region’s reputation for having lower housing costs than Vancouver, but also because of the wide diversity of cultures and communities in Surrey, said Sharma.

“We know that 60 per cent of our students in the district speak a language other than English at home, so that diversity is really attractive for a lot of people who may be able to find an established community that they can receive some support from.”The Welcome Centre's volleyball program for Afghan girls is one example of a program having positive impacts on the lives of refugees in Surrey.

Despite the increased pressure and number of clients, Sharma said the work is immensely rewarding.

“We just feel fortunate to work in an environment where we’re constantly seeing these beautiful transitions and are able to help families become a part of our greater community,” she said, recalling a recent year-end celebration for a volleyball program for girls from Afghanistan.

“One of our girls wanted to share a poem she had written, and it was this beautifully written poem in very complex English,” she said. “It was so expressive and the fact that she has only been in our country for a few years was amazing.

“It’s the growth and development which leads to beautiful outcomes that really gives us hope and excitement about what we do.”

To learn more about the Surrey Schools Welcome Centre and its services, click here.