Private Sponsors and Government

Minister John McCallum: For those with private sponsors, there would likely be homes ready but what would happen with government-assisted refugees — those whose costs are covered entirely by government — was always a question mark, according to Hamilton Spectator. Ordinarily, those refugees are welcomed by settlement agencies that run temporary housing facilities, and they stay there for a few weeks before a permanent home is found. Those conditions will still be better than what people have left behind in Jordan, Lebanon or Turkey, where nearly all of the Syrian refugees coming to Canada are currently living, said Immigration Minister John McCallum. "I don't think the need to spend one or two weeks in interim accommodation will be a devastating experience for them, given what they have come from," McCallum told a news conference Wednesday. "That being said, we'll attempt to make that interim process as quick as possible." When the current resettlement program was rolled out in November, the government said incoming refugees would spend a couple of nights in hotels near the airport before transiting on to their final destinations. But those organizations always had concerns that the sheer volume of Syrians would overwhelm those facilities — a fear that now become a reality as the Liberals work toward bringing 25,000 people to Canada by the end of February. Though government-organized flights of refugees will continue to land almost daily, the government focus is now shifting to how to ensure the newly arrived are settling in as well as they can once those permanent homes are found. "We have now demonstrated an ability to get the machine up and deliver the refugees to Canada," McCallum said. "The next phase — it won't be easy, it won't always be totally smooth — is to welcome all of these individuals to Canada." Along with housing challenges, there is the reality of weaving thousands of new people into their new communities. The groups are providing daily feedback to the government on the number of beds they have available, but at least three military bases are expected to be mobilized in the coming weeks to help house thousands of people. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.