Three years after Canada opened its doors — and heart — to almost 60,000 Syrian refugees, Yaseen Alshehadt has a job he loves, his wife is learning English and their children are getting “the world’s best education.”He’s living the classic immigrant’s dream.Although settling in a new country can be difficult, Syrian newcomers who were sponsored by the federal government and community groups are slowly setting down roots in their adopted country, according to a new survey by COSTI, the agency tasked by Ottawa to settle government-sponsored Syrians in the GTA. The survey found many are thriving, with a third having found jobs and some 87 per cent reporting they feel happy.“I can speak English now and have a job. My kids are in school. We feel 80 per cent Canadian,” said Alshehadt, 44, whose family fled Daraa in 2011 when the Syrian civil war broke out. They spent five years in Jordan before coming to Canada in January 2016 under a government sponsorship. “We are so proud of Canada and want to make Canada proud of us, but we need some time to grow.”The COSTI survey of government-assisted Syrians in Greater Toronto found they are faring better than immigrant service providers would have expected. Read more:Is Canada in the midst of a refugee crisis? Experts say it’s important to keep things in perspective‘I screamed, but no one came’: The horrifying sexual violence facing SyriansCanada to resettle dozens of White Helmets and their families from Syria“As a settlement sector practitioner who has been working at this for 30 years, I believe this particular group, which is (so early) into their settlement, is ahead of the integration process,” said Mario Calla, executive director of COSTI. “Half have had paid employment and many are still committed to their language training. They have made friends with non-Syrians and are not just retreated to their own community, whic ...
|
