Relatively shortly after taking office, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to move 25,000 Syrians to Canada in order for them to escape the incredibly destructive Syrian Civil War. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that as of October 15th, 2015, up to 350,758 people may have been killed since the war started in 2011. As the conflict between the Free Syrian Army, the Axis of Resistance, and ISIS takes more lives, more refugees are leaving the region. Over 4.6 million refugees have been registered by UNHCR, but they are now facing a crisis of where to go. Currently, 2.5 million refugees are being hosted in Turkey, while Lebanon and Jordan are estimated to be holding over a million, each. Dozens of other countries throughout the world have also been accepting vast numbers of refugees. For example, according to the Huffington Post, in North America, Canada has now taken in 12,425 refugees. In addition, the Guardian reports that the government is also allowing in an additional 10,000 privately sponsored refugees into the country. Meanwhile, CNN reports that 27 state governors in the USA have ardently opposed accepting Syrian refugees into the country. As well, Donald Trump has infamously called for the ban of all Muslims attempting to enter the United States. Despite this, Obama’s administration has managed to get 10,000 refugees into its borders.

In Canada, more than half of the arriving Syrians are under the age of 14 (Huffington Post). Public support has been strong for the incoming refugees. For example, in Halifax, they received so many donations that the collection center had to shut down (Huffington Post). The Guardian reports that John McCallum, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister states that 500 officials were sent to Jordan and Lebanon to screen every potential newcomer via security interviews, fingerprinting, and iris scans. Following this, they are granted permanent resident status in Canada. Trudeau’s administration is spending an estimated $472 million U.S. (or $680 million Canadian) on airlifting and transporting refugees to Canada. John McCallum states that the mission is unprecedented as “Canada has many times in the past decades accepted significant waves of refugees. But I think this is making history in Canada in the sense that we’ve never done it so fast” (Guardian). Trudeau himself has personally welcomed many refugees at the airport. McCallum estimates that the total number of Syrians by the end of the year could amount to as many as 50,000.

With that said, there are still numerous challenges that refugees are facing. For instance, “You’ve lost your family, you’ve lost your home, you’ve lost your job, you’ve lost your standing in the community,” says Gerry Mills, the Director of the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia. As such, “People are looking for their place in the world.”

Incoming children are usually enrolled into public school within three weeks. Executive Director of the Association for New Canadians, Megan Morris thinks that “in some respects, it might be a little easier for a young person because they quite quickly go into a school environment… They usually acquire language skills quickly and meet friends in the community” (Huffington Post). Meanwhile, housing is also a problem as “There [is] a shortage of social housing, some Canadians have been waiting one or two years. They won’t be impressed if a refugee who has just arrived from Syria is put at the front of the line,” said McCallum. “We have a lot of families who are eight, seven [people], and our housing stock as a community is not strong on those sizes,” says Executive Director of the Catholic Center for Immigrants, Carl Nicholson.

Across Canada, the outpour of support has been immense. The Canadian government has set up an information hotline (“1-844-61 SYRIA”) that aims to inform concerned citizens on how best to aid the Syrians. In addition, according to CTV, “the federal government has created the Syria Emergency Relief Fund so that for every dollar donated to registered Canadian charities that are accepting donations earmarked for the Syria[n] crisis, the government will set aside one dollar in the fund.” The Muslim Welfare Center, The Rahmat Center, Islamic Relief, The Islamic Society of York Region, Outta Line, Lifeline Syria, World Vision, St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church, the United Church of Canada, RefugeAid, Doctors Without Borders, The Jewish Federation of Vancouver, and Temple Sholom are just some players in a very large list of organizations that are currently supporting refugees in some way. For example, Temple Sholom is fundraising $80,000, while the Islamic Society of York Region has sponsored 20 families. Clothing, food, furniture, sponsorships, donations, education, training, employment, accommodations and a sense of community are all required by the refugees, and so these organizations are providing it. Meanwhile, Outta Line, a creative label that works to support different causes, has created the “Style for Syria” line of shirts. 100% of the profits collected from these sales are going toward local organizations who are helping out in the resettlement process, with a specific focus on the Toronto, Ottawa, and Kitchener-Waterloo areas. On another note, The Muslim Welfare Center has received so many clothes that shipping containers for Syria have become filled. In addition, thousands of opportunities currently exist, throughout Canada, for people to get involved in helping these migrants in some way

Nonetheless, there is a dark side to the support being given. With clothing donations, many members of the community have used the situation as an opportunity to throw away clothing they no longer desire. The Muslim Welfare Center, Newmarket Islamic Centre, Masjid Alabrar, and the Islamic Society of York Region (ISYR) have all had to throw away torn, dirty, worn out or otherwise unsuitable clothing. The ISYR has even received unusable exercise equipment. At times, the amount of clothing has become unmanageable and volunteers are needed to sort out the clothes.

With that said, volunteering is a great first step for concerned citizens to take in order to help these new Canadians. Food aid and accommodations top the list, as even refugees who have been sponsored by the Canadian government do not receive enough food support. As well, many refugees are currently held in temporary accommodations, such as the Radisson Hotel, which is presently holding 200 people. On this matter, a huge challenge is that many Syrian families may have as many as eight members. This is a number that can be difficult to accommodate in typical Canadian houses as they are generally built for families of five. Meanwhile, for clothing donations, an emphasis must be made on winter wear, which will help newcomers survive as they are arriving in the middle of winter.

However, looking towards the future, the government hopes that within one year, these refugees will have been able to find employment and support themselves. With that said, a huge problem exists, in that many of these refugees’ education is not recognized in Canada, which means that they will have to retake their education. Meanwhile, many entrepreneurs and employers have begun to hire refugees to work, with the hope that they will be able to quickly support themselves.

Furthermore, all of these families had to leave their homes and the people that they knew. Identities and relationships have been torn apart by the mass exodus, and life will never be the same for these new Canadians. As well, even if peace is restored in Syria, the land they once knew will have transformed by that time into something unrecognizable. As such, the only thing that the people of countries accepting Syrian refugees can do, is to make their new homes as welcoming as possible.

With that in mind, the efforts by the people of Canada demonstrate an incredible sense of community spirit and solidarity for the Syrian refugees. It speaks to the desires of the population to help those fleeing from oppression and war and to assist them in starting a new life, even if it is at a great financial cost. While many were skeptical of Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government when they were elected, their highly ambitious plans mean that they certainly have very positive intentions. This demonstrates that a bright new era is beginning for Canada as it becomes more accepting of immigrants. It is a great first step towards strengthening the idea that Canada is a truly multicultural, pluralistic, and humanitarian nation.