Settlement workers provide information on services available both in schools and community, conduct orientation and workshops on various areas of settlement in Canada, assist in filling out forms for other services, provide service referrals & service linking, and accompaniment to community resources, help in the adjustment and transition process in a culturally sensitive manner.  

For secondary school students, the SWIS Program offers a weekly orientation to newcomer youths (Grade 8 to 9 and Grade 10 to 12 separately) and their parents are welcome to participate. 

Currently, the settlement workers can provide support in the following home languages: Arabic, Cantonese, Farsi, French, Hindi, Korean, Kurdish, Mandarin, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.   

SWIS services are available at schools across the district.  It will be very helpful for the family to enroll in the SWIS program so the settlement worker can reach out to the family after the student’s registration is completed.  Enroll with the SWIS Program.

You can also download the settlement workers' school assignment list with their contact information to find which SWIS team members work at your school for assistance.

Find the school assignments and contact details of Settlement Workers in Schools:

• 2023-2024 SWIS School Assignment.pdf

For more information, please call the Newcomer Welcome Centre (NWC):

Phone: (604) 713-5698 / Fax: (604) 713-5936
Email: swis@vsb.bc.ca