The Association for New Canadians is responding to questions about child care services being offered to newcomer parents at the Holiday Inn in St. John’s.

The Association says there is a program called Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada, which is federally funded through Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

It is offered free of charge to permanent resident who are deemed eligible, such as Ukrainian refugees.

They say there is an associated child care program that parents can avail of while they attend ESL classes, which are typically scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays.

The child care program is open to anyone who attends a language program, but but priority is given to refugees, who they say typically experience a waitlist for such programs.

The Association states that the language program at the Holiday Inn is comprised of Ukrainians, but government assisted refugees and permanent residents from other populations can access seats in the ESL classes and child care spaces when available.

Meanwhile, the ANC says they are seeing an increased demand for ESL and have set up pop-up classes in many locations as a result.