SEAS Centre

S.E.A.S. Centre (SEAS) was established in 1986 to serve primarily the South East Asian population settled in the Regent Park area as a result of the influx of immigrants and refugees arriving in Canada in the years before. It was then known as South East Asian Services Centre, and was funded by the Metro Toronto Housing Authority, Children’s Aid Society and the Public Health Department of the City of Toronto. The first Annual General Meeting was held and the first Board of Directors was elected in October 1987.

Initially, SEAS employed only one full-time worker and provided only settlement service and family life education with seconded staff from the service agencies in the neighbourhood. Subsequently, services were expanded to respond to the rising needs of the community. New programs such as domestic violence prevention, crisis intervention, family counselling, community and volunteer development, seniors and youth services, mental health promotion, as well as cultural and recreational activities were implemented. Our focused communities have also expanded from the South East Asian community to other ethnic groups.

SEAS underwent dramatic changes in 1995. During the year, it became a member of the United Way of Toronto, and established its first branch office at East China Town. In 2001, SEAS reached another milestone by changing its name to Support Enhance Access Services Centre to reflect more appropriately its services and clientele groups. The next year, SEAS added an office location in North York. In 2009, it expanded its services to the City of Markham. In response to perpetual rising community needs, the S.E.A.S. Foundation was established in 2013 to help SEAS to raise fund to fill service gaps.

A major milestone was reached in 2016 as SEAS purchased its first own business premises. The location has since became the Administration Office and Scarborough Service Centre of the agency. In the following year, we were excited to launch services to the Syrian community for the first time. Today, SEAS is a multi-services not-for-profit organization that render support to all people in need, regardless of their ethnicity, nationality, gender, race, religion, age or sexual orientation. Our focused community groups are Chinese, Vietnamese and Filipino.