Regina welcomes almost 650 Syrian refugees in one year

It's been exactly one year since Radi Al Bardan, his wife Safaa Khamees and their son Rida stepped off a plane at Regina International Airport to an enthusiastic crowd waiting to greet the city's first government-sponsored Syrian refugees.

In the 365 days since, Regina's become home to almost 650 fellow Syrian refugees, most of them children.

Regina's Open Door Society held a media conference Wednesday to mark the occasion.

A number of Syrian newcomers met with media to talk about their first year on the prairies and to put their new English language skills to the test.

"I understand anything, but speaking is very hard," said Omar Ezzeddin.

He and his wife along with their two children arrived in Regina back in January.

They're among the 120 Syrian adults currently enrolled in English classes through Open Door Regina.

He said learning English has been the hardest part of the transition.

That's the case for many of the Syrian newcomers. One year in, not very many have joined the workforce yet. According to the government only 15 of the 245 Syrian families in Saskatchewan have reported employment income through the Resettlement Assistance Program.

The Open Door's Getachew Woldeyesus said that's because they're focussing on learning the language and culture, so that they can be successful when they do look for employment.

In the meantime, many of the refugees are taking advantage of Open Door's employment and life skills classes, on top of English lessons.

"Our teachers teach us about life, how to get a job here in Canada, how to be more efficient at work," said Manfi Altleis.

Tatiana Zotova is Open Door's manager of language and employment services.

She said there are about 70 Syrians in their employment classes learning how to write resums and cover letters and develop job searching skills.

"They work on an action plan, they decide on their short term goals and long-term goals and then they work towards that," she said.

That's exactly the case for Abdulnasir Al Khalaf. He used to run a business in Syria making sweets and other foods. He's currently working on learning English but he has dreams of starting up a business someday.

The majority about two-thirds of Regina's new Syrians are children.

Altleis has seven of them, all in elementary school, where they're honing their language skills.

"They like the school. They go to school every day. They are happy here and their teachers are so nice," Altleissaid.

According to Saskatchewan government numbers, 1,236 Syrians arrived in the provinceas of September.