The federal government has not slammed the refugee door shut on single men who might want to come to Canada as part of its large Syrian resettlement program, the bureaucrat in charge of the effort said Thursday.
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Jennifer Bond, an Ottawa professor now providing expert advice to the new refugee minister, said what’s different is the change in attitude at the highest levels in the country.
But both groups say they’re now waiting to hear exactly what’s required of them in the immediate future to implement what both say is an enormously important and meaningful program. Bibeau said the agency will put the money toward shelter, protection, education and health for the refugees.
Mr. Trudeau initially promised to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by year-end.
Canada will spend up to C$678 million ($510 million) over six years flying in the refugees from Turkey, Syria and Jordan and then helping resettle them.
The government also said it is honouring a commitment made by the previous Conservative government to match donations by Canadians to the worldwide relief efforts. “If an organization raises a dollar, it might not be that organization that needs another dollar to respond based on their position in the field and the services they deliver”, said a department official.
The government is relying heavily on the United Nations agency to accomplish its goal of bringing in 25,000 more Syrian refugees to Canada before the end of February.
“There’s so much goodwill, from the Canadian side and from our team here, hopefully everything goes smoothly”, McDonnell said.
Immigration officials estimate Norway can expect more than 33,000 refugees this year, a threefold increase over 2014.
Dion noted the strain on Lebanon, which has a population of 4.5 million and has absorbed more than a million refugees.
Thousands of Syrian refugees will learn they may have a chance at a new life in Canada from a beep on their mobile phone. “That’s what Canada would have to absorb”, said Dion. “We’re welcoming 25,000 new Canadians”.
But McCallum said that had no effect on delaying the arrival of all the refugees by December 31.
“This funding to UNHCR will help to make these decisions a little less hard by helping to meet basic needs”. “With over four million Syrian refugees in the region, I hope more countries will follow Canada’s example and not only help us address the enormous needs in the neighbouring states but provide more opportunities for refugees to find safety elsewhere”.
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Bibeau said that since the Syrian crisis began, Canada had committed more than C$969m in funds for humanitarian assistance, development projects and security and stability initiatives.
