The Winnipeg School Division (WSD) is in strong need of individuals and families to host international students for the upcoming school year.

Help those studying abroad

Students from around the world have the opportunity to come to Canada to study and experience a culture unlike their own. Host families make it possible for these students, all under the age of 18, to enjoy their time away from home while still living in a home-like environment.

Debra Parker, international education program coordinator for the WSD, says the division's program is expecting 100 students to come from a total of 15 different countries this September.

There is demand for families willing to offer their homes for as little as one week, to long-term host arrangements. Due to the growing popularity of WSD's exchange program, more families are needed still for this year and the future.

Parker says they're always looking for good families for a variety of circumstances.

"WD could invite more students if we had more host families," Parker explained. "We're almost limited by the number of hosts that we have."

Host families provide more than simply a place to stay, however. For students who are not yet adults, living with a homestay family throughout their studies offers support and stability to help them feel calm and secure throughout their time in Canada.

"The education piece is important, but education is only five, five-and-a-half hours a day. They spend more time with their host families than with their teachers," explained Parker.

Additionally, it's an experience that not only allows students to pursue their educational goals, but also provides them with the opportunity to experience Canadian culture.

The program, which is partnered with the Canada Homestay Network and still fairly new to the WSD, invites students from other countries around the globe to attend school in Canada for anywhere from a semester to the length of their high school education.

Vietnam, China, Spain, Germany, Brazil, and Chile are just some of the places students who need host families come from.

"I think it gives host families an opportunity to see a different part of the world, but in their backyard," says Parker. "The students bring with them their culture, their language, their customs, and just as much as our Canadian families share Canada with them, they're able to share some of their own experience from home... with their host families."

"A rewarding experience"

Sarah Graham Leon, has been hosting students since 2006, and says she's hosted so many, she has trouble keeping track of them all. She does, however, stay in touch with nearly every one.

"It's been a lot easier since we've had the Facebook era," she shared. "I've become friends with all of our host students so I can keep in touch with them."

Acting as a host family was a natural decision for Leon and her husband; they both participated in exchange programs while growing up themselves. Leon herself lived in Mexico, Columbia, and Quebec as an exchange student, living with homestay families.

Leon described her own experiences as an exchange student as "fascinating." Learning how other cultures lived and spoke opened her mind and expanded her own understanding of the world.

"Having that experience, and my husband also having exchange experience, it felt like a natural thing for us to do, that we receive students into our home."

Now that their family has expanded to include three kids, Leon says hosting has only gotten better.

"We see it as welcoming people into our home. I explained to my kids when they were young and they were asking, 'why is this person coming to live with us,' that these people are coming to Canada to study and they don't have a family, and they need a family to live with. My kids were very open to that."

Though students are often nervous when they first arrive in Canada, they quickly become part of the family, even participating, often for the first time, in Canadian activities such as skating and tobogganing with their host families.

Leon says her family enjoys welcoming people into their home, meeting and learning about new people. "My kids have picked up more than a few phrases in other languages over the years," she chuckled. "It's fun; it's fun for the kids, and I really find it opens their mind to the world."

Interested in becoming a host?

To those considering becoming a host family, Leon encourages people to take advantage of the opportunity.

"Give it a chance, try it even for one semester... we have had such great students over the years, it's a lot of fun to add a new member of the family. 

"We've learned so much over the years, it's been a very rewarding experience."

To be a host family, you must offer a private bedroom and access to a washroom, as well as three meals a day, particularly breakfast and a family dinner. A monthly allowance will be provided to cover any hosting costs you may incur. More information on becoming a host family can be found here.