District Reception & Placement Centre

Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Monday to Friday

The District Reception and Placement Centre (DRPC) registers newly arrived students throughout the year, the busiest months being August and September. 

Students who must register at DRPC include:

• Kindergarten-Grade 12 students who were born in Canada, and who DO NOT speak English as their first language, must register with a parent or legal guardian at DRPC;

• Kindergarten-Grade 12 students born outside Canada, regardless of language spoken at home, must register with a parent or legal guardian at DRPC.

DRPC staff check birth certificates and/or citizenship papers, immigration documents, health records, report cards, and proof of residence as part of the registration procedure.

The parent or legal guardian must come with the student when registering and must present the following original documents (plus an English translation of all documents NOT in English).

NOTE: From late June to late August, when schools are closed, English as a first language students who were born in Canada also register at DRPC.

During the rest of the year, these students go directly to their Neighbourhood Schools to register.

Review your registration checklist

Prior to visiting the school to register your child, please collect and review all the necessary information you will be required to present.  The records are needed to ensure the child’s application is complete and, most importantly, to ensure the school has the basic information it needs to maximize the health and security of the child. 

Please bring the following original documents, with an English translation if the original document is not in English:

• Proof of residence in Vancouver:
  • Home owners - recent property tax statement or purchase agreement; or
  • Tenants - a formal rental or lease agreement; or
  • Parent Declaration of Residence form (available at the District Reception and Placement Centre.
• Child’s birth certificate (ideally showing parents’ name/s)

• Immigration documents, Canadian Citizenship documents or Aboriginal status identification for parents and child(ren)

• Immunization records (if available) and other important health information (e.g. medical alerts)

• Child’s previous report cards

a) Elementary - Two most recent years of report cards

b) Secondary - All report cards from grade7/age 13 to present

• Any other relevant documentation involving guardianship, court orders, etc.

Once registration is completed, DRPC staff will process the file and prepare to send the information to the home or placement school. If English is not the language of the home, it is likely that an assessment of the student will have to be done. An appointment is made and the student returns to DRPC for assessment in reading, writing and mathematics. The completed file and the assessment results are sent directly to the home/placement school.

Can parents/legal guardians register by telephone, fax or e-mail?

The District Reception and Placement Centre and schools do not usually accept applications by telephone, fax or e-mail as staff need to verify authenticity of documentation.  Documents that are written in a foreign language need to be translated into English.  Any missing documents will delay the processing time for your file.

More about DRPC

The supervisor of the DRPC is also responsible for the Multicultural Liaison Workers [MCLW's], who are the cultural resource staff of the Vancouver Board of Education. The MCLW's are available to support students, families, and school personnel by facilitating communication despite linguistic or cultural differences. Currently, the MCLW's can provide support to speakers of Cambodian, Cantonese, Filipino, Gujarati, Hindi, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, and  Vietnamese.

The coordinator of Volunteer Interpreters for schools' parent-teacher conferences is also located at DRPC. Parents or others who can speak and read in English and another language, and who are interested in acting as volunteer interpreters for these events, can phone the volunteer coordinator at (604) 713-5836 for further information.

The DRPC staff work cooperatively with school personnel and other district staff to ensure that students who register at the DRPC are placed promptly in schools and receive the most appropriate educational services possible.