VANCOUVER — B.C. can expect to receive about 400 Syrian refugees by the end of the year, the Immigrant Services Society of B.C.’s settlement services director said Wednesday.
That’s a far cry from the 3,000 the province had expected to receive by that time.
Chris Friesen said of the 400, about half are expected to be government-assisted refugees and half will be privately sponsored.
These refugees will represent B.C.’s share of the 10,000 Syrians coming to Canada by the end of the year, about four per cent of the national total. That is significantly less than the 11 per cent of refugees to Canada that B.C. usually receives.
The initial housing needs of the first 200 government-assisted refugees who come to Metro Vancouver can be “easily managed,” Friesen said, noting that the Immigrant Services Society of B.C. has received 761 housing leads from around the province.
Longer-term housing is, however, expected to be a challenge. Housing for privately sponsored refugees is the responsibility of the host group.
The initial 400 will begin arriving the week of Dec. 7, with government-assisted refugees coming to Metro Vancouver and privately sponsored refugees going to the communities that sponsored them. In the past, most privately sponsored refugees have also settled in Metro Vancouver.
An additional 15,000 Syrians are to arrive in Canada in January and February, the Liberal government said in an announcement Tuesday, in which it altered its pledge to bring a total of 25,000 refugees to Canada before the end of the year.
Of that total, B.C. can expect 1,500 government-assisted refugees and an unknown number of privately sponsored refugees, Friesen said. Government-assisted refugees are selected on the basis of vulnerability and tend to represent the most urgent resettlement cases.
That would bring the total number of confirmed refugees coming to B.C. to 1,900. Premier Christy Clark and Jobs Minister Shirley Bond have both said the province can take up to 3,500.
Clark said Wednesday B.C. is prepared to welcome refugees but needs to work out the funding details with Ottawa.
