All Syrian refugees in Thunder Bay arrived via private sponsors

THUNDER BAY – Despite being designated as a hub for Syrian refugees fleeing the war-torn region, Thunder Bay has yet to receive anyone from the Middle East nation under the federal Resettlement Assistance Program.

A total of four families have arrived in the city via private sponsorships.

Michelle McKenzie Lander, the RAP co-ordinator at the Thunder Bay Multicultural Centre, on Thursday said the city has received two Burmese families under the program, but she’s not sure when the first Syrians refugees will arrive.

“Hopefully we’ll see Syrian refugees here under the RAP program pretty soon,” she said.

Asked why the delay, McKenzie Lander said there’s a pretty simple explanation.

“I think the masses went to the cities and now it’s about establishing some in the (more) rural areas,” McKenzie Lander said.
The statistics bear this out.

Toronto has taken in 1,838 government-assisted and 1,518 privately sponsored refugees since Nov. 4, 2015. Ottawa has admitted 1,169 GARs and 229 privately sponsored refugees.

Vancouver (1,671), Winnipeg (776), Edmonton (976) and Calgary (976) have also taken in hundreds of government assisted refugees.

The federal government committed as an election promise to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada, ultimately hitting that target by the end of February. According to government statistics, to date 28,449 have arrived in the country in the past seven-and-a-half months.

While it’s a waiting game, the city is ready, McKenzie Lander said.

Now is actually a good time.

“Thunder Bay is very prepared,” she said. “It’s a bit of transition now, with students leaving, when it comes to housing for them. There are three-bedroom houses available for them, for families of five or six.

The longer the delay, the less likely those vacancies will remain.

“That might be a bit of a hiccup for us in the long run, but orientation-wise we have established with hotels and the college and university for temporary housing to house them. And we’ve had our staff all trained on how to help them settle.”

Under the RAP program, the government will pay for temporary accommodation and help find families a permanent home. They will also provide basic household items and a general orientation to life in Canada. Income support will be provided for up to one year or until the family becomes self-sufficient, whichever comes first.

An interest-bearing loan program will cover costs of medical examinations abroad, travel documents and travel to Canada.