Immigrants and refugees in Regina, Saskatchewan now have a new resource to help them become established in Canada.

The Newcomers Welcome Centre began offering support services to immigrants and refugees this month, and aims to be "a first-stop, one stop shop" of information for newcomers, according to centre manager Leah Sharpe.

One of the primary goals of the centre is to help immigrants and refugees register their children in Regina schools. The centre is a partnership between the Regina Open Door Society, a non-profit settlement services provider, and the area’s three school boards.

"We basically came together to hopefully make it a little bit easier for families settling in Regina to get their children and teens registered for school and properly assessed so that the schools can put in proper educational supports for those children and youth in the school system," Sharpe said.

The centre also plans to offer newcomers other settlement services such as information on housing, income support, language assessments for adults, and referrals to other agencies that may help with the settlement process.

The demand for settlement services in the area has grown, in part due to the success of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP), which is expected to welcome 3,400 nominees and their families in the next 12 to 18 months.