Refugee organizations, government preparing for influx of Syrian refugees in Nova Scotia

HALIFAX – When Prime Minister designate Justin Trudeau reveals his new cabinet on Wednesday, many will be interested to see who the new federal immigration minister will be.

Trudeau has pledged to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of December, but as the deadline draws near, there are still no concrete details on the logistics of how that will happen.

For the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS), that is proving to be a daunting task.

“We think 25,000 is great. It’s a great number for Canada to be stepping up to the plate again after a long time of smaller numbers of refugees,” said Claudette Legault, director of programs and services at ISANS.

“On the other hand, we’ve also asked please not by the end of December just because we want to make sure we’ve had a chance to consult with partners and with community groups.”

It’s unclear at this point how many of those refugees will be coming to Nova Scotia and whether they will come at once or in waves.

ISANS has already been in discussions with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, which asked the organization if staff can be on call on weekends and work further into December than they typically do.

“We’re expecting something by the end of the week that will say what is the total number [of refugees] and what is the timeline is for that,” Legault said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We're expecting something by the end of the week that will say what is the total number [of refugees] and what is the timeline is for that," Legault said.

Other groups are readying themselves too.

Refugees Welcome – Maritimes was created this past summer by a group of concerned citizens after seeing the images of refugees fleeing from Syria.

The group organized a rally calling on the federal government to accept more refugees back in October. Now with the new Liberal government poised to do just that, the group has shifted their focus to helping those refugees transition to life here in Canada.

“The things we are advocating for, we we may not need to advocate for anymore,” said Dennis Nickerson, a member of the group.

Welcoming a large group of refugees isn’t new territory for Nova Scotia. In 1999, Operation Parasol brought about 2,500 refugees from Kosovo to CFB Greenwood.

Canadian Red Cross provincial director, Ismael Aquino, recalls the speedy effort to house and support the refugees, from finding translators to purchasing children’s supplies.

“The biggest lesson is, preparedness is most important,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The biggest lesson is, preparedness is most important," he said.

“We were on standby for 72 hours for the arrival and we were blessed to have the extra month to be able to do the planning with our partners in the federal government and our provincial partners as well.”

The province’s Office of Immigration echoes that focus on partnership among governments and organizations.

“We’re ready, willing and able to accept more refugees and we expect the new federal government to send them our way,” the department said in a statement to Global News.

“We’re continuing to meet with stakeholders, settlement providers, municipal leaders and other provincial government partners to prepare for more refugees. There are also 40-50 groups, in Nova Scotia exploring private refugee sponsorship. We’re so pleased to see Nova Scotians getting ready to lend their support.”