Canada Homestay Network — Attraction in Oak Bay

For all concerned,

I need to inform you about something truly concerning. It concerns our underage family member whom we sent on a trip some time ago to fulfill a dream. However, what started as an exciting adventure turned into a grueling experience full of disappointments and worries.

Our child is in a foreign country, over 6,500 kilometers away, without us by their side. The cultural differences, language barrier, and unfamiliar environment already make the situation challenging enough. But what's truly hard to bear are the conditions under which our child had to live.

The organization responsible for accommodation and care has utterly disappointed us. Our child shares a toilet in the basement with other guest students and the two children of the host family. Communication from the host mother is often loud and disrespectful, sometimes even via WhatsApp in capital letters, akin to shouting.

The rules our child has to follow are strict and often disproportionate. Particularly concerning is the requirement to have limited time for basic hygiene, and then to be criticized for using too much hot water. Different food for guest children than for family members, not healthier, but quite the opposite. Healthy food, hot water, laundry, etc., are expensive, so it was restricted and clearly limited. Spending Christmas and New Year alone while the host family enjoys a feast is simply heartbreaking for a 16-year-old who should be experiencing love and security.

It's shocking how little this organization cares about the well-being of the children. Other families who were there at the same time through the same organization report similar conditions, and many have returned home prematurely because there was no support on site.

I urgently request all of you to carefully reconsider Canada Homestay Network as an organization for such programs. The high costs we pay are not commensurate with what is offered. Toronto may be expensive, but that does not justify neglecting the needs and safety of our children.

Please spread this information so that other families do not make the same mistake. Our children deserve to grow up in an environment that supports and protects them, not in a situation that jeopardizes their mental and...

Our first experience with this company and it's pretty safe to say that we will be looking elsewhere next time. The experience began when we first lost connection with "Gale", our Homestay coordinator. After multiple attempts, we were able to contact her through her husband's number. Might I add that one of the numbers provided for her did not have a personal voicemail message connected to it and one was deemed "not in service", those coupled with the sudden drop of communication with both "Gale" and the family attached to the student we had been matched with lead to a small investigation of fraud. Finally we were given the date, time, and place of pickup.

Fast-forward to the last week with our Homestay student. "Gale" asks us if we want to host a student for August to which we decline due to other plans. Suddenly a whole one day later, we are contacted by a family who claims they've been matched with us to send their kid in August! Multiple failed attempts to contact "Gale" later, and we're now worried since we have not been given the time for drop-off either. Finally we get in touch with her assistant who tells us the email for drop-off times was sent out days ago as a mass-email. Being as we used to be a part of the group that received these emails, we could only conclude that "Gale" had removed us from communication out of passive-aggressive spite in not hosting a student in August and calling her out for the extremely poor administrative and coordination skills. Might I add that the result of missing drop-off would be to drive the student all the way to Toronto yourself in time for their flight.

In conclusion, if you dare attempt to use this company to host an exchange student, I warn all of you whom reside in Ontario, you're certain to cross paths with this "Gale". If you make her mad, you may just find yourself wasting gas you don't have to get your exchange student back to the airport after finding out she removed you from the mailing list and blacklisted...

Ok, I've been to Calgary, Victoria, and. I've got to say This Homestay organization is the worst of em all. which doesn't add up since they charged highest price compared to one in Victoria and Calgary.

My host family here is new to the game, in the first 6 month they behave really well and respect me, but after they learned some facts about this Homestay Network. That the local agents (relationship manager) does not care about the student well-being, a complain email take weeks to be reply by only one sentence. My host family started to take advantage of it.

They would not allow me to take showers for more than 5 minutes, makes me non-nutritious food for dinner and lunch which contains 0% vegetables. and doesn't allow me to do laundry.

And the worst part is I don't even blame them, It's traveling somewhere where there is no law. of course someone's going to commit a crime if there's no punishment.

The way how they managed this organization is terrible, there are no specific rules that family has to follow. I really hate to say this but the only thing they care about is how to make more money of international students.

The only reason I'm writing this is because I am going to leave soon, and for all the parents reading this If you want your child to have a good experience in Canada please considered dormitories or condo or any Private Residence. Trust me these homestays are not going to make your experience any better, in the matter of facts most of them doesn't even speak English I doubt that They would pass...