In the matter of three months Canada has welcomed more than 15,000 Syrian refugees home.
That may be a lot of new residents, but it’s not even close to how many the Government of Canada plans to resettle before the end of February.
Faith St-John, spokesperson for the Department of Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Canada said Canada plans to bring 25,000 refugees to Canada before the end of the month.
“The Government of Canada’s current commitment to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees began on November 4, 2015. As of February 4th, 2016, Canada has welcomed 15,685 Syrian refugees to our country as part of the #WelcomeRefugees initiative. We are getting refugees here as quickly as we can, and we’re doing it in a way that is correct and appropriate and takes due concern for security, medical and other issues.”
The 9,315 additional refugees who are still working on coming to Canada will be both private and government-assisted refugees.
“This will consist of both privately sponsored and government-assisted refugees (GARs). After February, Syrian refugees will continue to be accepted, and the government will reach its commitment to resettle a total of 25,000 GARs,” St-John explained.
In British Columbia 1155 government-assisted refugees and 41 privately sponsored refugees have arrived and are now living in Vancouver.
St-John said 800 Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Canada staff are working tirelessly to hit the target.
"Refugees that are successfully connected with a sponsor and approved for resettlement in Canada, as part of Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees program, will be able to rebuild their lives with the support of their family members in Canada as well as the formal support of their private sponsors.”
