We run settlement services under Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It was about two and a half years ago that it was considered a pilot. It seems that they're moving towards having that as a mainstay in the area we serve, simply because of some of the results we're seeing in terms of young people and newcomers.
We integrate up to 300 new arrivals to the city of Mississauga every single year, plus another 200. It's about 500 to 600 young people we take in every single year. We integrate them in the types of programming that interest youth, such as urban dance, graphic design, photography, computer, Adobe Photoshop, and those types of programs that attract young people. In fact, you were there when we had our showcase a couple of weeks ago. Over 300 kids from as many as a dozen different nationalities came together and presented their talents, all of which required a little bit of preparation to get there to perform in the showcase. That means they needed to be involved in a number of group activities and were doing something that would positively impact them and also the community.
Let me speak, also, about the other 200 young people we take in who do not fall under the category of newcomers and do not fall under the category of recipients of direct services under the Citizenship and Immigration program we run. These are the alternative measures program participants, many of whom are children of new immigrants. I would say that a great majority of them have been charged because of marijuana. Maybe they were with their friends and they were in a car with a friend who was stopped and pulled over and it so happened that there was a little bit of marijuana in the ashtray. The consequence of that, if there were three or four people inside the car, was that all of them were charged. Or in fact if some of them had already been involved in partaking of marijuana themselves, the consequence of that was that obviously they were caught and charged. They come to us in a variety of ways, but the great majority of them are charged because of marijuana.
From where I stand, in terms of my understanding of the newcomer community that comes to Canada, it is, in fact, the understanding of many of these cultures that marijuana is still an entry drug of choice among young people that could lead to other forms of drugs. There is a cultural understanding of this among the parents. So when their children actually are charged or get involved with this, regardless of whether they are partakers of marijuana or have been caught with their friends inside a car, they are very concerned. Many of them would actually come and register their children who are 15, 16, or 17 years old. Yesterday there was one who was 19 years old. I have to figure out why she still needs to come with her parents. But I guess there's a cultural understanding that these are our kids, these are our children, and if they get involved with the law and they get involved with marijuana, from a cultural understanding, that is an alarming thing, because that would, in their minds, lead them to getting involved with other drugs.
From my own practice and from my own experience, I get a sense that whenever young people try this thing and don't get intervention, it leads to other social causes, leading to anxiety or depression, the moment they get into their young adult years, leading to all forms of wanting acceptance and so on. This leads to all kinds of other social ills as a result of partaking in this.