Commercial Flights and Immigration Minister John McCallum Health Minister Jane Philpott

Syrians: That doesn't include any Syrians arriving on commercial flights on Wednesday or Thursday, according to CTV. Immigration Minister John McCallum and Health Minister Jane Philpott are scheduled to hold a briefing in Toronto on Thursday to discuss the resettlement plan. According to analysis of current statistics on the Immigration department website, approximately 6,239 Syrians will have arrived in Canada by midnight on Dec. 31, if all the government flights that are scheduled arrive on time. As of Dec. 29, a total of 4,420 Syrians had arrived in Canada since Nov. 4, the department says, which includes those who've come on government and commercial flights. Bureaucrats in Canada and abroad have been working nearly around the clock in recent weeks to get the Liberal government as close to its goal as possible but McCallum moved to lower expectations last week that the target would be met, saying a host of factors, including possible weather delays, meant it wasn't a guarantee. There were seven government flights expected to arrive in the final two days of the year, carrying around 1,900 people; the government does not provide details on refugees travelling commercially. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.