A leader in Canadian international education, the New Westminster School District began welcoming students from around the world in 1987. We offer programs for students aged 5 to 18 including long-term academic and intensive English, and short-term summer, winter, group, and adult courses. Students are supported by our multilingual in-school staff offering homestay placement, counselling, and translation. Most programs are based in New Westminster Secondary School, one of British Columbia's largest and best equipped schools. New Westminster is part of beautiful greater Vancouver, only 25 minutes from downtown by the convenient SkyTrain service. New Westminster is a very friendly and pretty place, and has a small town atmosphere. As the region's oldest city, New Westminster offers a lively community spirit, and distinctive history and culture. Overall, New Westminster, situated in the greater Vancouver region, is part of a safe and highly cosmopolitan city. This region enjoys one of Canada's mildest climates and is consistently ranked as one of the world's top 10 cities to live in.

Over 95% of our international graduates go on to post-secondary studies across Canada and in the US, most commonly to study business, science, computer science, and humanities. We also have excellent programs in fine arts, drama, sports, and an International Baccalaureate program. New Westminster Secondary School facilities include a 1,200 seat professional theatre, an ice skating rink, music rooms, and 5 computer labs. Students with particular areas of interest are encouraged to ask us directly for more information on what we have available.

Our homestay manager carefully selects local families in good homes with convenient access to the school. All families provide students with a warm and secure family environment, and help students to adjust to life in Canada. It is both Canadian law and school policy that school age students must live with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident over the age of 25 who resides in the greater Vancouver area full-time. In addition, this person must also act as the student's custodian.

A complete ESL program is integrated into the school year. New international students typically take a combination of ESL and academic courses. The higher their English proficiency, the greater the number of academic courses they are eligible to take.

All students are assigned to a high school counsellor to assist with post-graduation study and career planning, and the counselling office has extensive resource information available. In addition, International Education Programs Office staff assist students in making these important decisions.

The New Westminster Secondary School sports facilities include 3 large gymnasiums, an ice skating rink, a 400 metre track, 2 soccer fields, a baseball field, and a considerable amount of sports equipment.

New Westminster Secondary School has an extensive sports program with numerous clubs and activities. Over the year, several different sports are played on an informal and formal basis.

The schools of New Westminster offer an exciting variety of club activities and all students are strongly encouraged to participate in club activities as an interesting and enjoyable complement to their academic studies. Clubs of interest include the Computer Club, Drama Club, Honour Society, Student's Council, Grad Committee, Multicultural Club, Outdoor Club, Service Club, Red Cross, Tutoring Club, Ski Club, and a number of sports clubs and teams.

Students are encouraged to use our 5 well equipped science and computer laboratories, and the library. Computers offering students free e-mail access are also available in the International Education Programs Office.

International students are strongly encouraged to participate in school clubs. It is an excellent way to make friends and enrich the international experience.

Interested students may contact one of our office staff at any time to arrange a tour of the facilities.