Immigration Minister John McCallum, who has led a valiant campaign to bring 10,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by Dec. 31, confirmed Thursday what many had suspected–the deadline will not be met.
In making the announcement, McCallum, whose bureaucrats have been working virtually around the clock in Canada and abroad–mainly in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon–since November to expedite the process, said he now expects the government to meet its target by mid-January.
By the end of Thursday, he said, slightly over 6,000 refugees will have arrived in Canada, and 10,000 applications have received government approval.
Bringing Syrian refugees was part of the Liberals’ platform in route to their election victory in October, promising to resettle 25,000 Syrians by Dec. 31.
In November, they amended the target to 10,000 by the end of the year with another 15,000 refugees arriving by the end of February.
The government has also said it will bring in at least another 10,000 government assisted refugees by the end of 2016.
The screening process interviews, security checks and medical exams.
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