Part
One: Introduction
Part Three: Living
in Vancouver
Part Four:
City
Government and
Public Participation
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Community Services
The City supports and assists many non-profit community service agencies
in Vancouver. For more information, call the Social Planning Department
(Tel: 604-873-7487) or check the department’s website at:  www.vancouver.ca/socialplanning.
Information and Referral
For more information about community services, contact Information Services
Vancouver at 604-875-6381. See their Directory of Services for the Lower
Mainland: www.vcn.bc.ca/isv
For services and issues concerning people with disability, contact the
BC Coalition of People with Disabilities, #204-456 W. Broadway, Tel.:
604-875-0188.
For services and support for lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexual
(LGTB) people, contact The Centre (LGTB Community Centre, 1170 Bute St.)
at 604-684-5307 or Prideline (7 pm to 10 pm) at 604-684-6869
or 1-800-566-1170.
For crisis counselling for people experiencing emotional distress, contact
the 24 hour Distress Line operated by the Vancouver Crisis Centre at 604-872-3311.
Access for non-English speakers is available through an interpretation
service.
For volunteer information and referral, contact Vantage Point (Tel:
604-875-9144; www.thevantagepoint.ca).
It also has a Resource Library open to the public.
Neighbourhood Houses
Neighbourhood Houses in Vancouver are friendly, welcoming local service
organizations offering social, educational, cultural and recreational
services for families and individuals, including new immigrants and refugees.
Most have after school programs, childcare for children, day camps, ESL
classes, seniors and youth programs, family support programs and community
information in many languages.
Most of the neighbourhood houses run the Nobody’s Perfect Program,
which provides parents with children from birth to five years old useful
information about children’s health, safety, behaviour, and parenting
skills. The program is delivered in various languages.
- Collingwood Neighbourhood House,
5288 Joyce St., Tel: 604-435-0323
- Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House,
4065 Victoria Drive, Tel: 604-874-4231
- Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House,
2131 Renfrew St., Tel: 604-251-1225
- Gordon Neighbourhood House,
1019 Broughton St., Tel: 604-683-2554
- Kitsilano Neighbourhood House,
2325 West 7th Ave., Tel: 604-736-3588
- Kiwassa Neighbourhood House,
2425 Oxford St., Tel: 604-254-5401
- Little Mountain Neighbourhood House
3981 Main Street, Tel: 604-879-7104
- Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House,
800 E. Broadway St., Tel: 604-879-8208
- South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
6470 Victoria Drive, Tel: 604-324-6212
Legal information and services:
- BC Human Rights Commission
(306-815 Hornby Street, Tel: 604-660-6811)
investigates and mediates complaints of discrimination under the BC
Human Rights Code.
- Law Courts Education Society of BC
(260-800 Hornby Street, Tel: 604-660-9870)
assists the public to better understand the court system and delivers
educational programs in partnership with community groups.
- Law Students Legal Advice Program
(Tel: 604-822-5791) enables law students to give free legal advice to
low income people.
- Legal Services Society of BC
(1500-1140 West Pender Street, Tel: 604-601-6000)
administers legal aid in BC, operates a Law Line (Tel: 604-601-6100),
and has a Resource Centre.
- People’s Law School
(150-900 Hornby Street, Tel: 604-331-5400)
provides a public legal education program and free law classes, with
services available in different languages.
Services For Immigrants & Refugees
- Immigrant Services Society of BC (530
Drake Street, Tel: 604-684-7498 and #501-333 Terminal Avenue, Tel: 604-684-2561)
helps new immigrants and refugees with information in English and other
languages, provides ESL language training, job search, job skills training
and other services.
- Inland Refugees Society (#101-225 East
17th Avenue, Tel: 604-873-6660) provides assistance to refugee claimants
including shelter, food, information and referral, counselling and English
classes.
- MOSAIC (1522 Commercial Drive, Tel:
604-254-9626) helps immigrants and refugees adjust to their new lives
in Canada, and provides services such as language instruction, employment
programs, orientation, settlement counselling, family support, paralegal
counselling, interpretation and translation, and community outreach.
- Pacific Immigrant Resources Society
(#205-2929 Commercial Drive, Tel: 604-298-5888) provides services for
immigrant women and their children, including English language training,
childcare, leadership skill development and volunteer placement.
- Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society ,
or PICS (#200-8161 Main Street, Tel: 604-324-7733), established, since 1987, provides
settlement and integration services to immigrants including case management,
job finding, and wage subsidy program for work placement assistance. For more
info, check their website: www.pics.bc.ca.
- SUCCESS provides many services for immigrants,
including settlement information and referral, family and youth counselling,
language training, employment and small business training, volunteer
and community development programs. Many of their programs are offered
in Cantonese and Mandarin. Offices in Vancouver are:
- 28 West Pender St., Tel: 604-684-1628
- 5836 Fraser St., Tel: 604-324-1900
- #203- 8268 Granville St., Tel: 604-323-0901
- #501-1788 West Broadway, Tel: 604-732-3278
- #801-1788 West Broadway, Tel: 604-721-7622
- Vancouver and Lower Mainland Multicultural Family Support Services
Society (306-4980 Kingsway, Tel: 604-436-1025) provides services to
immigrant and visible minority women, children and their family who
are experiencing family violence. Also works with women victims of sexual
assault. Confidentiality is strictly maintained.
Starting a new business Canada
- BC Business Services Centre, 601 West Cordova Street (Tel: 604-775-5525),
is a provincially and federally funded agency that provides information
on how to start a new business in BC and has a business resource library.
(www.smallbusinessbc.ca)
- SUCCESS - Small Business, Training & Development, #501-1788 West
Broadway (Tel: 604-732-3278), assists newcomers and local Canadians
to research and start small businesses in the Greater Vancouver area.
(www.success.bc.ca/business)
- Business Development Bank of Canada (Tel: 604-666-7850) provides financial
assistance (loans/financing)
and information to new, small and medium-size businesses.
Other Useful Guides
- Newcomers’ Guide to BC (Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and
Women’s Services, Tel: 604-660-2203)
- A Newcomer’s Introduction To Canada (www.cic.gc.ca)
- The Citizenship Handbook (BC Civil Liberties association: Tel: 604-687-2919,
available in five languages)
- Learning about the Law (The People’s Law School, Tel: 604-331-5400)
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Childcare
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