Citizenship and Immigration committee  I don't think I'm the person to ask about that. What we have been asked to do is track our expenditures. We have been told that the province will match us dollar for dollar for extraordinary expenditures that we were forced to take to meet the needs of our Syrian families. Our

Citizenship and Immigration committee  When they come to Peel all of our students come through our welcome centres. For students with special needs, it's no different. We have a screening tool that we use there, and we dialogue directly with our consultants in the board office. They come out to our centres and meet wi

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Since January we have received 530 students.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'd like to just add that in terms of the adult ESL classes in our community, many of the classes are full, but I think the lack of child-minding services for such large families is creating the issue in the community.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, we are.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, we do. We have a very in-depth network in Peel with not only our MSEP providers but with all Peel agencies. We meet quarterly with our federal funder and our Region of Peel and other community agencies. We try to coordinate services. We feel very equipped. Certainly, the l

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I don't sit on that particular committee, but I do know that they happen. I participate in a working group at the Ministry of Education. There we have different service providers and organizations and different school boards representing. Certainly, we are discussing sharing bes

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Just to conclude, we have also been asked by many other school boards for our expertise and knowledge.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In addition to our social workers who are providing counselling support to our Syrian students, we also have a partnership with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture who come to our We Welcome the World Centres once a week and provide counselling services on site. They are b

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Federal government funding for We Welcome the World Centres has decreased 25% since inception, just by the 200% increase in clientele. Additional funds for settlement staff and child minding is essential to meet these needs. Through our intake process, 30% of the families divul

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The Peel board is the second largest board in Canada within the municipalities of Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon. It serves a diverse student population of over 152,000 students, of which 93,000 speak a language other than English or French as their first language. Arabic ran

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and committee members for inviting us here today. My name is Louise Clayton. I am the coordinator of the Peel District School Board's We Welcome the World Centres.