The Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on track to fulfil its electoral promise to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees in Canada by the end of February.
As of Feb. 24, 24,008 Syrian refugees had arrived in Canada on government sponsored flights from Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, according to the federal government website tracking the progress of the resettlement program.
Another 3,923 applications have been finalized but the refugees have not travelled to Canada yet. And government officials are in the process of going through 12,440 new refugee applications to resettle in Canada, which would bring the total of Syrian refugees that Canada accepts in 2016 to 40,371.
Since early November, 2015, Ottawa has chartered 91 flights to fly in the refugees to Montreal and Toronto, from where they get redistributed to over 260 communities across Canada.
The Globe and Mail newspaper reported Friday that, according to Public Services and Procurement Canada, an average flight from Jordan or Lebanon costs about $377,000 dollars, which means that the federal treasury has so far spent over $34 million to bring in the Syrian refugees.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.