Many Syrian refugees struggle as they enter ‘Month 13’

VANCOUVER Syrian refugees are struggling with mixed results as they transition through what many call “Month 13” in Canada.

Immigration Department evaluations of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s effort to welcome 26,000 refugees from war-torn Syria reveal high rates of unemployment, costly barriers to rental housing and difficulties shifting from Arabic to French or English.

Although many refugee families are doing relatively well after their first 12 months in Canada, when they’re supported mostly by the federal government, others are facing a range of trials as they transfer in “Month 13” to provincial welfare and other programs.

One category of refugees is doing better than others.

Just over half of the adults among the 9,000 Syrian refugees who have been privately sponsored in Canada, largely by churches and other religious organizations, have jobs, Immigration official Chantal Goyette said in a talk delivered at the March Metropolis conference in Montreal.

But only 10 per cent of the adults among the 15,000 refugees who are categorized as “government-assisted,” and who are typically less educated, have jobs in Canada, Goyette said.

British Columbia accepted about 2,500 Syrian refugees in all categories, or nine per cent of the national total, with most of the rest going to Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.

Vancouver’s Maggie Hosgood, who has helped coordinate more than 100 B.C. United Church congregations in welcoming refugees, said Friday that privately-sponsored refugees may do better for a range of reasons.

One advantage of private programs, Hosgood said, is the many volunteers who have been introducing Syrian refugees to local communities, potluck dinners, rentalhousing options, informal language-learning opportunities, government services and job possibilities.

A wide range of Canadian Christian organizations, particularly the Catholic, United Church and Anglican denominations, have been at the forefront of privately sponsoring thousands of Syrian refugees, most of whom are Sunni Muslims. Mosques and synagogues have also been sponsors.

Immigration Department official Nancy Chan said in an email this week that, after the first 12 months on federal programs, Syrian refugee families end up benefiting not only from provinciallyfunded public-school and welfare programs, but also from the federal government’s new Canada child benefit.

Syrian families with four or more children — which make up the majority of Syrian families that have come to Canada — can get about $50,000 a year in various taxpayer-funded social-service benefits.

In addition to receiving more than $12,000 a year per adult under provincial welfare programs, the Canada Child Benefit credit provides $6,400 for each child under six and $5,400 a year for each child between six and 17. The families are also eligible for GST and other tax rebates.

“The Canada child benefit has especially made a terrific difference in many families’ ability to survive Month 13,” Hosgood said.

In many cases Hosgood has found struggling refugee adults in B.C. have had to make a choice between working at minimum-wage jobs or staying on provincial welfare so they can go to school to learn English or study other subjects.

The Immigration Department says 62 per cent of the 26,000 Syrians who have come to Canada speak neither French nor English, which is a lower rate of fluency than among previous refugees to Canada.

Learning English, Hosgood adds, is especially difficult for the significant number of Syrian refugee adults who are not able to read or write in their native Arabic.

Although Trudeau and federal cabinet ministers have frequently posed for photo opportunities with Syrian refugees who are doctors or other professionals, the Immigration Department report makes clear that most jobs so far obtained by Syrian refugees are typically in the low-paying service and restaurant sector, or in construction.

The Angus Reid Institute reported in February that Canadians generally support the way the federal Liberals welcomed Syrian and other refugees in 2016. Almost half of Canadians said Ottawa is taking in the right number of refugees, while 41 per cent said the number is too high.