The Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society (VIRCS) is a non-profit organization founded in November 1989 by three former refugees. The centre helps immigrants, refugees and new Canadian citizens, settle and adapt into new lives in Greater Victoria.
The multicultural staff annually serves more than 3,000 immigrants, refugees, new Canadian citizens, and visible minorities annually. VIRCS provides a wide range of services to its target group, assisting them with everything from settling in Victoria to finding a job.
Over the years, the centre has developed positive relationships with other organizations, service providers, the local business community, and the community at large. VIRCS gratefully acknowledges the funding support of the federal and provincial governments.
ABOUT VIRCS
HIGHLIGHTS
We are Vancouver Island’s only official testing centre for CELPIP
language testing.
In collaboration with the District of Oak Bay, we provide transitional housing via two Welcome Houses for recently resettled refugees.
We are a part of the Social Innovation Centre which is a non-profit society that owns a building housing other non-profits to share administrative supports, collaborative space, and a trauma-informed daycare.
In 2017, VIRCS won the Premier’s Innovation and Excellence Award for the innovative Vancouver Island Refugee Response Team program which helped to welcome and settle 3,000 Syrian refugees to BC from 2015 to 2016 with a made-in-BC approach, forging new partnerships, expanding cultural awareness,, and creating community capacity throughout BC for generations to come.
