Canada To Give United Nations $100M For Syrian Refugee Relief

He said the decision to take another two months to process applicants was not a direct result of Paris.

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. Officials say Canadians have until December 31 to make donations, which will be equaled to a ceiling of US$75 million (CA$100 million).

Hundreds of people devoted to helping refugees gathered for the start of a national three-day conference on Thursday with a renewed spring in their step and a barely contained excitement.

United Nations staff in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are now working overtime and on weekends to help select the Syrians who will be brought to Canada.

In short, Mr. Trudeau acknowledged that his government sacrificed some of the details of its initial plans so that it could reassure Canadians, so public support for resettling refugees would not fall.

The government has mandated the priority is to help the most vulnerable Syrians come to Canada and a huge challenge, Bond said, is how to identify those.

“For Canada it would be about 11 million refugees – 11 million refugees!”

Bibeau said: “Canada will continue to stand by the people of Syria and their neighbouring countries during this conflict”.

“In the wake of horrific events like the recent attacks in Paris, as we renew our resolve to work with the worldwide community to help prevent such attacks, and as we reaffirm our steadfast participation in the coalition against ISIL, we must also recommit to building a world where diversity and difference are promoted and celebrated”, he said.

The BBC report seems to simultaneously dispute and confirm CBC’s report, quoting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying he rejected the idea of “exclusions” for single men, while Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Minister John McCallum declared, “We want them to have a roof over their head, and the right support”.

It said McCallum said likely the first group will travel to Canada on a Canadian Air Force plane and the government will also look into the option of leased planes thereafter, but that logistics are still being finalized.

Several European countries, including EU members Slovenia and Croatia and non-members Serbia and Macedonia, have declared they will only allow “war-zone refugees” from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria to transit through their countries on their way to central and northern Europe.

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.