13 Quebec cities will accept 7,300 Syrian refugees in next three months

Quebec is on track to accept 3,650 Syrian refugees by the end of the year, and to accept another 3,650 by February 2016.

Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil and Public Security Minister Pierre Moreau said the province is working with the Armed Forces, the Red Cross, the federal government, and other agencies to integrate refugees into Quebec society.

The bulk of the refugees coming to Quebec are sponsored by Quebecers, either by individual families, religious organizations, or community groups such as Hay Doun.

"The work to integrate the refugees, including language instruction, is well underway," said Weil. “One of the key components of integration is to be able to speak the language for a job to succeed at school to be able to integrate into the community.”

Most of the 25,000 refugees Canada will accept in the next three months will come from refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. They will first arrive in Montreal and Toronto, and then go to new homes in those cities and elsewhere.

Quebec has designated 13 cities as having the resources to accept refugees and integrate them into life in Quebec.

Those cities are: Drummondville, Gatineau, Granby, Joliette, Laval, Longueuil, Montreal, Quebec City, Saint Hyacinthe, Saint Jerome, Sherbrooke, Trois Rivieres, and Victoriaville.

The overwhelming majority will go to Montreal, with 230 going to Quebec City, 220 to Gatineau, and 210 to Sherbrooke. The other cities on the list will each accommodate fewer than 70 refugees.

Temporary housing will be available at Valcartier Military Base.

Red Cross volunteers will help the new arrivals as well.

“Our very first mission is to make that welcome very human. Make sure, take some the tension off these people and help them go through the process with their families,” said Pascal Mathieu of the Red Cross.

• For information on how you can help welcome refugees, click here.

Weil said community groups in those cities are working to provide welcomes to the refugees, including providing them with clothing, showing them how to register children with schools, and helping them find work.

"Representatives from [the Immigration Ministry] have been in constant contact with the sponsorship groups," said Weil. "I want to thank them and to underscore the fantastic work that they have been doing since the beginning of the crisis in Syria."

She said the priority is being given to refugees who have sponsors in Quebec.

"These people will arrive with contacts, with sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles... They have family here. These are people who can integrate quickly," said Weil.

Children will be going to schools in French school boards, and so far the government has no plans to allow children to attend English schools.

"Of course children have to go to French schools. That's essential. It's essential because their integration will happen that way. However the Lester B. Pearson School Board... does offer professional training as well. There are all sorts of possibilities regarding professional training," said Weil. 

CAQ leader Francois Legault says he has concerns about the integration of young refugees in Montreal schools.

“Right now, schools in Montreal don't have enough resources to integrate the actual children, so if we're adding thousands of people, thousands of children, I hope well have all the resources,” he said.

Many of these refugees are fleeing war zones where they witnessed violent atrocities. Weil said there will be mental health resources available for many of the thousands coming to Quebec as part of the integration process.

Moreau added that while the number of refugees arriving in a short period of time is high, Quebec can cope.

"We are accepting a constant flow. The speed of the flow means we have to deal with them promptly but we can do that," he said.

Moreau and Weil both said they were glad the federal government had decided to extend its arbitrary deadline to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees in the weeks to come, with Weil saying several weeks ago she doubted Canada could accept 25,000 refugees by the end of the year.

"We have said time and time again to take the proper amount of time to get things done," said Moreau.

He dismissed concerns about refugees being a potential security threat, saying that refugees are some of the most-examined people in the world.

"The speed of admitting refugees will not compromise any security checks," said Moreau.

"The security check they undergo before they enter Canada is one of the strictest in the world."

Quebec has budgeted $29 million to integrate these 7,300 refugees, and Weil and Moreau said if the province is expected to accept more refugees next year it will ask the federal government for more funds.

The United Nations estimates more than 4 million refugees have fled Syria in the past several years.

Half have made their way to Turkey, while the small country of Lebanon has accepted more than 1 million refugees.

The remaining million are spread among the other Arab nations, although the U.N. does not track and register refugees who arrive in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE.