OTTAWA — The Liberal government is giving $10 million to the United Nations refugee agency as part of the program to resettle thousands of Syrian refugees to Canada over the next few months.
It's part of a larger $100 million contribution to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that the Liberals promised during the election campaign.
UN staff in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are currently working overtime and on weekends to help select some 15,000 Syrians who will be brought to Canada by the end of February directly by the government, and the money will go to supporting those efforts.
The government is also giving the UN in those countries, as well as in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Europe, money to help deal more broadly with the effect of the refugee crisis in those countries.
The money will be used to pay for basic needs and services for the four million people displaced by the ongoing civil war in Syria.
Thursday's announcement brings to $969 million the total amount of humanitarian assistance from Canada in response to the Syrian crisis.
