Liberals promise to double Syrian refugee admissions

Now, the country is planning to double that number by the end of 2016, according to the country’s Minister of Immigration and Citizenship John McCallum.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has used his Christmas address to urge fellow Canadians to warmly welcome Syrian refugees – even has his government admitted that it may not reach its own target of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year. He said that by the end of the year, 10,000 Syrian refugees will be identified as certified Canadian permanent residents, but the government is still unsure whether the refugees would be able to set their foot on Canadian soil within that time as promised.

In November, the Liberals amended that promise saying the government would bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February with the first 10,000 to have landed by year end.

McCallum also said that he hopes to engage with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Jordanian government, as well as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to assist the Canadian government further with the screening process.

In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino some American politicians still arguing over how many Syrian refugees to admit.

McCallum says there will be many, many more flights over the coming days.

That deadline was pushed back to the end of February last month.

McCallum also announced Wednesday the government would provide $15 million to agencies in 23 communities to help provide housing and supplies for arriving refugees.

“I think Canadians are very much on side with our plan to bring in 25,000 refugees”, McCallum said.

A first flight of privately sponsored Syrian refugees arrived in Toronto on December 10. One of those flights is in the air with 298 refugees on board and is to land in Montreal Wednesday.

“The crisis continues to have an enormous social and economic impact on the host countries, with many local, municipal and national services such as health, education and water under severe strain”.