A Canadian businessman is spearheading efforts to resettle 50 Syrian families in Guelph, Ont., and he's also footing the estimated $1.5-million cost to cover their living expenses for their first year.
Jim Estill, the president and CEO of appliance manufacturer Danby, says he's stepping in to help because it's within his means to do so, and he felt it was the right thing to do. "It's a humanitarian crisis and I didn't want to sit back 20 years from now and say I did nothing during that time," Estill told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday.
Estill will be putting up about $30,000 per family to cover their first year of expenses in Canada, in addition to providing all kinds of services to help with the resettlement process. That includes everything from setting up mentorship programs, to offering language lessons, to taking care of all the little details of arriving in Canada, like getting a bank account, a health card and a library card for each new arrival. He's put together a team to help with his efforts, so all the refugees will be well taken care of.
"We're basically trying to make it so they land and launch properly," Estill said.
Many members of the Guelph community have joined in Estill's efforts by offering their time or services. Churches are holding blanket drives, the Salvation Army is providing furniture and clothing, and private citizens are offering their time or expertise to help with all the little challenges a new Canadian family will face when they arrive.
Estill says he's organizing the resettlement effort like a business, with experts appointed to overseeing specific elements of the process, including housing, transportation, finance, health and education. He's also set up a scorecard system for each refugee, to help his administrators keep track of people's progress, and their needs.
"I approach it like a business challenge, because what you want is you want people to resettle well. You want them to start a life and get a job and pay taxes and build a new life," Estill said.
Estill refuses to take full credit for the resettlement effort. Instead, he insists he's "getting everyone else" to do all the work. "When I first started I was making the calls," he said. "Now, I don't need to make the calls. Everyone calls me, and it's just a matter of organizing it and putting in place the structure."
He added that the "easy" part has been getting all the paperwork done for 50 families, since most of it is repetitive. "All of this stuff is easier when you do it on scale," he said.
The government of Canada asks that sponsors cover refugees' care, lodging, living expenses and other basic needs for a 12-month period, beginning from the day they arrive in Canada. Those basic needs include enrolling children in school, finding refugees a family doctor and dentist, locating interpreters and setting up language training for those who need it. Sponsors are also asked to help refugees find a job and figure out the nuances of living in Canada, like how to take the bus, take out the garbage, or open a bank account.
Canada opened a refugee processing centre in Jordan last week, where thousands of displaced Syrians are currently camping out, waiting for other countries to take them in. The federal government has committed to accepting 25,000 refugees by the end of February, and it's asking for help from members of the public to help it achieve that goal.
Canadians can donate, volunteer or sponsor a Syrian refugee themselves through the government's .
