OTTAWA - The first planes carrying Syrian refugees from camps overseas are expected to arrive at two of Canada's busiest airports late next week.
A federal solicitation document posted Monday names Dec. 10 as the date when the first flights are planned to carry refugees from camps in Jordan and Turkey to Canadian soil.
The document says those flights could continue until the end of March.
The federal government plans on bringing 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of February, with 10,000 of them arriving by the end of this month.
The first group will be made up largely of privately sponsored refugees, many of whose files have been in the works for months as churches and other community groups moved to assist some of the most vulnerable people fleeing the Syrian civil war.
The plan is bring those refugees into Canada on commercial flights, with military airplanes available every 48 hours if necessary in case commercial jets aren't available.
