Canada's province pledges to fund refugee resettlement

Canada's provincial government of British Columbia (B.C.) has decided to provide 1 million Canadian dollars (about 750,000 U.S. dollars) for refugee resettlement, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Half of the fund will be used for five teams, who make plans for the resettlement of refugees in their own communities, Jobs Minister of B.C. Shirley Bond said.

The rest will go to the Immigrant Services Society of B.C., which is responsible for resettling refugees who are sponsored by the government, and creating an online hub to connect private sponsors, volunteers, counsellors and other service providers.

Another 1.5 million Canadian dollars (1 million U.S. dollars) will be available through the Canada-B.C. Job Grant, a government-initiated program, to help all new Canadians find work, with two-thirds of that money specifically earmarked for refugees. Endi