A group of lawyers in Moncton are doing their part to help the incoming Syrian refugees by providing them with free legal services.
"Newcomers to Canada will have legal needs in their immigration paperwork,” said Adel Gonczi of McInnes Cooper. “They might have needs to purchase a home or a real estate transaction. They might have legal needs to set up a new business."
The legal service is designed to keep refugees in the Maritimes.
"If you don't ... provide them with this welcome, they are going to find another place, a bigger place like Toronto, like Montreal," said Mike Timani of the New Brunswick Multicultural Council.
Dr. Brian Wheelock is a semi-retired neurosurgeon volunteering with YMCA Settlement Services. He emphasizes the need for refugees to feel comfortable in the communities they’re living in.
“The services that are being developed here and the services they're being offered will at least assure them that they can live in this community," said Wheelock.
Shilo Boucher of Greater Saint John YMCA says several different sized houses are needed, which is already an issue in many Maritime communities.
"We have various sizes of families, so we need all the way from one bedroom to five bedroom apartments,” said Boucher. “They need to be on transit, or have access to transit, because they will be coming here to learn English."
So far, the number of Syrian families who have arrived in the Maritimes can best be measured in the dozens, which is only a fraction of the numbers to come.
Settlement agencies in the Maritimes are expecting the numbers to steadily increase this month and into February.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.
