The Multicultural Centre believes North Bay would be an ideal location for the government to send government funded immigrants.
Currently the government has only a few locations in Ontario where federally sponsored Syrian refugees are being relocated.
But with news that Canada could take in as many as 50,000 by the end of 2016 and 25,000 by February, Multicultural Centre Executive Director Don Curry says North Bay should be considered as one of those locations.
“I could see down the road North Bay becoming a site for government assisted refugees, where the government pays the cost of coming in,” said Curry.
He says a recent study by Simon Fraser University indicated that refugees will make a significant economic impact to British Columbia. Curry believes it would be the same for North Bay, which is a community looking to grow.
“We have the capacity at the multicultural centre to settle them and integrate them,” he noted.
“So I could see that as not only the right thing to do but also as an economic development strategy for the city. Refugees come in and get jobs and become self-sustaining and are paying taxes.”
Syrian Family Update
Curry says the home for the first Syrian Family is ready to go.
Through sponsorship and generous volunteers, the five-bedroom home has been furnished and able to house the family comfortably when they arrive.
The family, which has been identified as including a mother and nine children aged 2 to 16, is expected to be here in January but no official timeline has been given.
Curry believes the community could be given as little as 24 hours notice that the family is coming.
Organizers, including Mayor Al McDonald, are still looking for a second home for a second family that has not yet been identified.
Anyone else interested in donating or helping out can go to nbdonations.com
