The English Montreal School Board is stepping up and offering a vacant school as shelter for migrants arriving in Montreal.

The EMSB said it's responding to the call for help from public health and education officials.

Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois had said at a news conference yesterday that they were looking for a school to house the dozens of migrants arriving daily across the border from the U.S. into Quebec.

The board said it's donating for a period of up to one year St. Raphael School located at Henri-Julien and Crémazie in the Villeray district. The school, which was shuttered two years ago, was able to hold about four hundred students.

Vice chairperson Sylvia Lo Bianco said government officials will be taking over the building and putting in whatever materials and equipment they need to accomodate migrants. The building could be used as a shelter as early as next week.

Lo Bianco said they have long-term plans for the building that will only happen in about two years so for now, they can put the building to good use.