I'm just going to finish up.
Canada's immigration plan is focused on families, and boys and girls clubs across the country help facilitate successful integration for children and youth, as well as support parents.
Clubs across the country have welcomed refugees to their communities, integrating children into regular after-school programs, as Hena described. Clubs also work in conjunction with local settlement agencies and local immigrant organizations to support newcomer children and youth across club programs.
Our universal approach to services ensures that everybody is welcome at the club. No one is turned away from our programs due to financial barriers. In addition, we run specific programs for newcomers, such as our newcomer youth advancement program. This program runs in clubs across the country, supports the healthy development of newcomer youth and assists their families in building strong social and community connections, acting as a launch pad for youth to build skills, develop friendships and support networks, and gain self-confidence. This program offers academic engagement, help in finding employment, leadership development, civic engagement, recreational sports and more.
Investing in newcomer youth when they arrive is a more effective and less expensive way to encourage successful integration than implementing reactive measures to address negative behaviours of youth who are disconnected from their communities. We encourage the government to give some thought to how existing programs, such as the youth employment strategy or the Canada service corps, can be bolstered to better engage newcomer youth. Such programs foster connections between youth and their new communities and help them gain the linguistic and cultural knowledge they need to succeed.
Anti-discrimination programs that foster connections between refugees and the receiving population, such as community engagement and recreational activities, can be further promoted and facilitated.
Thank you again for inviting Hena and me to speak. We look forward to your questions.