Close X
Friday, November 8, 2024
ADVT 
National

Flights For Syrian Refugees To Canada To Start Dec. 10, Document Says

The Canadian Press, 02 Dec, 2015 11:15 AM
    OTTAWA — The first planes carrying Syrian refugees from camps overseas are expected to arrive at two of Canada's busiest airports late next week.
     
    A federal solicitation document posted Monday names Dec. 10 as the date when the first flights are planned to carry refugees from camps in Jordan and Turkey to Canadian soil.
     
    The document says those flights could continue until the end of March.
     
    The federal government plans on bringing 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of February, with 10,000 of them arriving by the end of this month.
     
    The first group will be made up largely of privately sponsored refugees, many of whose files have been in the works for months as churches and other community groups moved to assist some of the most vulnerable people fleeing the Syrian civil war.
     
    The plan is bring those refugees into Canada on commercial flights, with military airplanes available every 48 hours if necessary in case commercial jets aren't available.
     
    The solicitation document posted Monday asks for interested air carriers to get in touch with the government by the end of this week, with the deadline landing six days before the first flights are supposed to leave from one of two cities in Turkey — Adana and Gaziantep, which is about 100 kilometres north of the Syrian city of Aleppo — and from Amman, Jordan. The flights will land at either Toronto's Pearson airport or Montreal's Trudeau airport and continue until at least Feb. 29, 2016, "but may be required later."
     
    Each aircraft has to seat at least 200 and fly direct between the locations.
     
    The document says the number of people on each flight will vary and the exact schedule, including days and times for flights, haven't been set in stone.
     
    Approximately 15,000 of the 25,000 Syrian refugees who will arrive in Canada in the coming weeks are being resettled by the federal government. They will go to dozens of municipalities across the country.
     
    The federal government estimates it will cost $678 million over the next six years to bring the refugees to Canada and help them settle. That figure doesn't include additional funding that could be necessary for provinces and territories.
     
    More than 500 officials have been assigned to work on the massive resettlement program, one of the largest of its kind in the world as it relates to the Syrian refugee crisis.
     
    Since the outbreak of the war there in 2011, the UN estimates some 4.2 million people have been displaced.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Five Things To Watch For In The Canadian Business World In The Coming Week

    Five Things To Watch For In The Canadian Business World In The Coming Week
    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris that kicks off Monday. 

    Five Things To Watch For In The Canadian Business World In The Coming Week

    Conservatives Cool Their Heels, Eye 2017 Leadership Vote

    OTTAWA — Familiar, experienced Conservatives will take their places on the opposition benches this week in the Commons, but behind them is a party that is exhausted, in organizational limbo, and only slowly beginning to plan for a leadership race.

    Conservatives Cool Their Heels, Eye 2017 Leadership Vote

    B.C. Climate Report Says Hike Carbon Tax, Extend Reduction Targets To 2050

    In the report released Friday, a climate leadership team concluded the province will fail to meet its 2020 targets and recommends focusing emission-reduction targets for 2030 and 2050.

    B.C. Climate Report Says Hike Carbon Tax, Extend Reduction Targets To 2050

    UBC Graduate Student Society Launches Confidential Harassment Reporting Website

    UBC Graduate Student Society Launches Confidential Harassment Reporting Website
    The university's graduate student society has launched a website called "My Grad Story" that encourages students to share their experiences through an online form, a private appointment or by sharing publicly on social media.

    UBC Graduate Student Society Launches Confidential Harassment Reporting Website

    Justin Trudeau To Discuss Climate Change In Meeting With Indian PM Narendra Modi

    Justin Trudeau To Discuss Climate Change In Meeting With Indian PM Narendra Modi
    India's Modi took a pass on Malta and his country is seen as a significant impediment to a global climate change pact, given India's refusal to rein in its galloping greenhouse gas emissions.

    Justin Trudeau To Discuss Climate Change In Meeting With Indian PM Narendra Modi

    Maine Ski Resort Works Focuses On Safety After 2nd Lift Accident In 5 Years

    Maine Ski Resort Works Focuses On Safety After 2nd Lift Accident In 5 Years
    Sugarloaf is spending $1.5 million to make improvements after a chairlift malfunction allowed it to move in reverse last March, injuring seven skiers.

    Maine Ski Resort Works Focuses On Safety After 2nd Lift Accident In 5 Years