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

    Suspect In Alberta Triple Homicide Shot By RCMP, No One Else Hurt

    Suspect In Alberta Triple Homicide Shot By RCMP, No One Else Hurt
    RCMP say that earlier today they went with a warrant to arrest Mickell Bailey in the deaths of Roxanne Berube, another female and Daniel Miller.

    Suspect In Alberta Triple Homicide Shot By RCMP, No One Else Hurt

    Rape Group Won't Be Heard At Ivan Henry's Compensation Hearing

    A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has rejected an attempt by Vancouver Rape Relief to argue that a man acquitted of sexual assault after nearly three decades behind bars is actually guilty.

    Rape Group Won't Be Heard At Ivan Henry's Compensation Hearing

    2-Year-Old Girl Found Safe After Missing For Hours Near Powell River, B.C.

    2-Year-Old Girl Found Safe After Missing For Hours Near Powell River, B.C.
    Const. Tim Kenning with the Powell River RCMP says police believed the little girl walked away from her home.

    2-Year-Old Girl Found Safe After Missing For Hours Near Powell River, B.C.

    Waterloo, Ont. Startup Sober Steering Aims To 'Sniff' Out Drunk Driving

    Waterloo, Ont. Startup Sober Steering Aims To 'Sniff' Out Drunk Driving
    WATERLOO, Ont. — Inside a few Canadian school buses a new sensor technology is helping keep drunk drivers off the roads.

    Waterloo, Ont. Startup Sober Steering Aims To 'Sniff' Out Drunk Driving

    Not As Many Deep Freezes This Winter, Says The Weather Network

    Not As Many Deep Freezes This Winter, Says The Weather Network
     Canadians with vivid memories of the teeth-rattling cold last winter can look forward to a reprieve this season.

    Not As Many Deep Freezes This Winter, Says The Weather Network

    Fraud Prompts B.C. Securities Commission To Levy $1-Million Fine On Chilliwack Real Estate Developer

    Fraud Prompts B.C. Securities Commission To Levy $1-Million Fine On Chilliwack Real Estate Developer
    A B.C. Securities Commission panel has ordered that Rodney Wharram pay a $500,000 fine and another $517,500 to cover the amount it says he obtained by his fraudulent misconduct.

    Fraud Prompts B.C. Securities Commission To Levy $1-Million Fine On Chilliwack Real Estate Developer