Ahlan Syria Founder and Executive Director Stefania Dunlop (in pink) is joined by Tuleen Rassas, centre and, Tuleen Rassas in stuffing welcome bags for Syrian fefugees on the floor of the international arrivals section of Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Dec. 10, 2015.J.P. MOCZULSKI/The Globe and Mail
Syrians are fleeing violence for a new life in a mostly cold country where the language and culture are far removed from the place they call home.
But Immigration officials in Canada say they are doing everything possible to ease the integration of thousands of displaced families into communities where they will have the support of resettlement agencies and ordinary Canadians who are giving their money and their time to make the transition work.
When the first 163 Syrian refugees from Lebanon arrived on a military aircraft in Toronto on Thursday night, they, like all arrivals to Canada, were greeted by border security agents. They were also immediately granted permanent resident status, which allows them to find employment or to study in this country.
Then they were taken to a welcoming centre for what Immigration officials described as a bit of respite after their long journey. This was a place in Toronto's Pearson International Airport where they were offered food and water, where children were provided with a spot to play, and where the devout among the travellers could use prayer rooms.
Also at the welcoming centre, the refugees were given Social Insurance numbers. And they were outfitted with some of the clothing they will need to get through a winter that will be harsher than most have ever experienced.
All of the Syrians who will arrive in Canada over the next few months on charter flights paid for by the government will land at Toronto or Montreal. A welcoming centre like the one at Pearson has also been established near Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, although it is a few kilometres away and the Syrians will be transported there by bus.
Because the refugees who were on the Thursday flight landed so late, they were taken to hotels to sleep before starting their new lives in Canada.
The Syrians who will land here before the end of the year have mostly been sponsored privately by community, cultural or religious organizations or by groups of five or more Canadians. Those sponsors have agreed to provide the refugees with necessities including food, housing and clothing as well as social supports for at least a year.
The privately sponsored refugees will head very quickly to the communities in which they will settle, so they can be close to the people who will be responsible for their care.
About 2,000 of the 10,000 refugees Ottawa expects to bring to Canada before the end of the year – and larger numbers of those arriving in 2016 – will be sponsored by the government and they will initially be sent to one of 36 cities across Canada that have a resettlement agency.
After spending a few weeks there, they could be moved to outlying communities where they will given long-term housing and the chance to establish some roots.
A group working within Canada's Immigration department has been given the job of matching the government-sponsored refugees with the communities that will give them the best shot at adjusting to their new country. Those bureaucrats will consider the location of any family or friends the Syrians might have in Canada as well as whether they will have access to religious services, trauma counselling and cultural organizations – and also whether a town or city has the capacity to take them in.
If, for some reason, no accommodation is immediately available in the city where are being sent, the government-sponsored refugees will be housed at what Immigration officials are calling "interim lodging sites" at six military bases – Kingston, Petawawa, Borden, Meaford, and Trenton in Ontario and Valcartier in Quebec.
But the government stresses that is a back-up plan only, and that the aim is to get all of the refugees into Canadian communities as quickly as possible.