I would like to add to my colleague's comments. Ultimately, our organizations are very similar.
I really liked the expression she used when she said that we were the gateway. You can already imagine how difficult it is to arrive in a new country; it’s all the more difficult when newcomers can’t speak in their own language. Often, when people come to our centre, they breathe a sigh of relief. They feel at home, they feel understood and welcomed. We support them and answer their questions. We offer workshops just to inform them how to dress in winter. Some people who come to Canada have never experienced snow. We welcome them accordingly.
We also provide daycare services to allow parents to learn English, for instance. Other organizations take care of welcoming newcomers, teaching them English and helping them find a job. We offer daycare so that the parents can take steps like these.
We don’t have statistics either that would enable us to determine whether our services help to increase the retention rate of immigrants. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that our organizations help French-speaking newcomers to integrate here, in Alberta.