A young Syrian migrant girl is held by her mother next to railroad tracks where migrants wait to cross into Macedonia Sept. 2, in Idomeni, Greece. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) (Source: issbc.org)
A young Syrian migrant girl is held by her mother next to railroad tracks where migrants wait to cross into Macedonia Sept. 2, in Idomeni, Greece. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) (Source: issbc.org)

(The Canadian Press and NEWS 1130) British Columbia’s premier says the province is ready to welcome Syrian refugees but still needs to work out funding details with the federal government.

Christy Clark says the newcomers need the strongest-possible chance of succeeding, and Metro Vancouver’s housing prices alone are the highest in the country.

The premier says the province has set aside $1 million to resettle newcomers, who will need trauma counselling after being forced to leave their homes.

She says refugees are expected to resettle across though the federal government now says the first wave of newcomers it is sponsoring will be settled in the Lower Mainland.

Clark says Ottawa’s decision to welcome 25,000 refugees by the end of February instead of by year’s end means more services will be in place to help people transition to a new country.

She says it’s not known how many refugees will come to BC, though she has previously said the province is ready to accept 3,500 people. Clark says the province will naturally be funding the children when they go to school, but the Surrey School District has already said it needs more funding for the refugee supports.

Chris Friesen with the Immigrant Services Society says they will be greeted by volunteers when they step off the plane.

They’ll spend two weeks in transitional housing at the ISS building in Downtown Vancouver, before being sent out to their temporary set ups.

We offer them a range of first language support, go through a variety of government systems, applying for provincial health care cards, social insurance number permanent resident cards, opening bank accounts.”