The City of Windsor will have a better idea of how many refugees it could be getting and when they'll be coming, as information is released by the federal government, Tuesday.
With the goal of accepting 25,000 in Canada by end of year, Mayor Drew Dilkens expects about 10,000 to land in Ontario. Then he says they'll be distributed on a per capita basis, which means Windsor could see about 160.
As for housing plans, that's yet to be determined.
"We already have a waiting list for social housing, we of course, in the City of Windsor, have about a 4% vacancy level and we have the highest unemployment rate in this community," explains Dilkens. "So we're trying to put all the pieces together. There are a lot of moving parts."
Details pertaining to funding available for cities housing refugees is also expected to be made available, Tuesday.
Dilkens and other big city mayors have been speaking with Canada's Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Immigration Minister John McCallum over the last week, and will be meeting with them, alongside provincial ministers, next week.
The mayor says he's had many calls, e-mails and messages over social media from residents willing to house refugees, and is asking those people to call 311 or 211, as the city is making a list of those people and will contact them if help is eventually needed.