The Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) program is one of several settlement programs Citizenship and Immigration Canada funds to assist newcomers with integration into Canadian life.

SWIS settlement workers enhance the social inclusion of newcomers in schools by

• helping newcomer students and their parents with their settlement needs;
• referring newcomer families to specialized community resources;
• providing group information sessions for newcomer youth and parents, often in partnership with school staff; and
• providing orientation for school staff about the settlement needs of newcomers.

Approximately 250 settlement workers from 22 settlement agencies work in schools in 22 Ontario school boards. Many communities also have French-language programs. Each SWIS program has a steering committee with representatives from the school board, the settlement agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

During the summer, SWIS workers are placed in other locations in the community where newcomers are likely to encounter them. As well, settlement workers coordinate the Newcomer Orientation Week (NOW) and Welcome and Information for Newcomers (WIN) programs, which take place in the last weeks of summer.

Newcomer Orientation Week

During a three-and-a-half-day period in the last week of the summer, NOW program peer leaders – students who were newcomers not long before – orient newly arrived students to their school. The peer leaders receive four days of training the previous week. The NOW program also creates leadership opportunities for newcomers, helps students find their voice and establishes opportunities for mentoring newcomers throughout the year. Learn more.

Welcome and Information for Newcomers

The WIN program, developed to help newcomer teens entering middle school (Grades 6 to 8), uses some of the same programming elements as the NOW program but lasts only one day. WIN is a basic introduction to school intended to build a positive foundation for parents and students to interact with the school and settlement worker. Peer leaders are also central to WIN and help demonstrate elements in the program and build friendships with the newcomer students. Learn more.

SWIS Resources

The SWIS program has developed a number of multilingual videos, pamphlets and online resources to explain the school and public library systems to newcomers. These free resources are distributed by SWIS projects or can be viewed at or downloaded from the SWIS website. Visit www.ontarioimmigration.ca for information about various settlement programs that local school boards deliver, such as English as a Second Language and Français comme langue seconde.