Canada Off Target for 10000 Syrian Refugees in 2015

The federal immigration minister is signalling it might not be possible for Ottawa to meet its goal of bringing 10,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of next week.

McCallum pointed at a number of factors like unfriendly weather conditions and refugees wanting to bid their families and friends goodbye, which are beyond the control of the government, as contributing to the delay. A plane was in the air on Wednesday morning with 298 Syrians bound for Montreal, McCallum said.

But in Canada, the resettlement program was met with support: The country’s 10 provincial premiers supported the initial move to bring in 25,000 refugees.

John McCallum, minister of immigration and citizenship, made the announcement when visiting Syrian refugees in Amman, Jordan who were preparing to head to Canada.

What are the added costs of possibly doubling the number of Syrian refugees by the end of next year, and who will pay for them?

“We are moving heaven and Earth to get them here as quickly as we can”, McCallum said.

“I think Canadians are very much on side with our plan to bring in 25,000 refugees”, McCallum said. By the end of February, 25,000 Syrians in total will be resettled in Canada.

In November, the Liberals amended that promise to 25,000 by the end of February, with the first 10,000 to have landed by the end of December.

Three more flights carrying Syrian refugees are scheduled to land before December 31.

McCallum also toured development projects and refugee facilities during his two-day stop in Jordan. So far, about 1,600 refugees have arrived.

It did so after listening to the widespread concerns of Canadians about proper security vetting and whether government and private agencies and individuals sponsoring refugees would be ready to integrate them into Canada successfully in such a short time frame.

McCallum said the girl and her brothers weren’t able to come to Canada at this time, but thousands more will.