‘So many hopes’: Syrian refugee family reflects on nearly a decade in Canada

When asked about her life in Syria a decade ago, Amani Shamseddin struggles to find the words.

Sitting on the couch in her Edmonton home as her children clamour for her attention, she pauses to think.

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“It wasn’t safe, we had so many incidents,” the 33-year-old says after a moment. “I don’t want to bring it back.”

In the fall of 2015, the newly elected Liberal federal government embarked on its pledge to resettle 25,000 Syrians fleeing the country’s brutal civil war in just 100 days.

Since then, Canada has welcomed more than 100,000 Syrian refugees.

Among them were Shamseddin, her husband Mahmoud and their children Ahmad and Ghena, who were eight and four when the family fled Damascus in April 2016. The family briefly stayed in Lebanon before securing asylum in Canada.

According to Global Affairs Canada, more than 250,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict that began in 2011, and there are more than seven million internally displaced Syrians and six million Syrian refugees around the world.

After almost a decade in Canada, Shamseddin says she never could’ve imagined her family’s escape and the community they’ve now found in Edmonton. While settling in a new country has had its challenges, their journey to safety is something she doesn’t take for granted.

“We had so many hopes,” she says, smiling.

Every day in Damascus was filled with fear, Shamseddin explains. Airstrikes rattled their home, and countless neighbours died as they fled for their lives. Shamseddin says she was scared to send Ahmad to school or have Ghena start kindergarten as bombs detonated in the city.

Her family didn’t think much about the future, she says, because they were only trying to survive each day.

“I never thought about my life later on, because I didn’t know what might change,” she says. “We think day by day.”

“It was terrifying.”

It was late 2015 when they learned that Canada could offer them a future. They already had some relatives in Alberta, who encouraged them to claim asylum. For Shamseddin, the choice was clear.

“We thought it might be a good opportunity for us and the kids for a better future,” she says. “We had hopes, but you never know if it’s going to happen.”

A mosque and a church in Toronto teamed up to sponsor the family, and by the following April, they were on a plane.

Shamseddin, who was just 25 at the time, says she had never travelled farther than Lebanon. She remembers the moment the plane touched down at the Pearson International Airport in Toronto.

“I (was) overwhelmed by everything. I was just imagining it was going to be like paradise,” she says. “We were crying, in tears.”

Initially, the family struggled to settle in Toronto, she says. They were crammed in a tiny two-bedroom apartment and struggled with the city’s affordability crisis. Shamseddin says they also missed having an Islamic community nearby. A different culture, language and weather were all part of the challenge, too.

Three years ago, they moved to Edmonton to be closer to relatives. The relief of being near family was only made more powerful when they officially received Canadian citizenships.

“We felt that whenever we get our citizenship, we can go wherever we want … like our dream is coming true,” she says.

The feeling of safety is something she wishes for her family members still in Syria. Last month, the country’s president, Bashar Assad, fled the country after opposition forces seized Damascus. It marked a dramatic end to the Assad family’s 50-year control of the country and his own 14 years of rule defined by the civil war.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller has said Canada will continue to evaluate the asylum claims of people who have left Syria, even as some European countries are pausing those claims after the fall of the Assad regime.

Canada has roughly 1,600 pending refugee claims from Syria as of Sept. 30.

For Shamseddin, life since coming to Canada hasn’t been easy. The family is still trying to keep up with the cost of living and now with four kids, she says she and her husband are always pressed for time.

But their challenges haven’t stopped them from moving forward, she says.

While seven months pregnant with her youngest child, Shamseddin began studying to become a teacher’s assistant, which she describes as “so hard.” She went on to earn her diploma and now works at a local school, while her husband works in maintenance.

Her eldest son Ahmad, now 17 and in his final year of high school, plans to become a doctor. Ghena, now in Grade 9, hopes to become a nurse. The couple’s two youngest children, Selena and Mila, were both born in Canada and are now aged six and two.

When reflecting on their years in Canada and the war they escaped, Shamseddin says she encourages her children to learn from their journey, and to always stay resilient.

“Be the best example of a Syrian, a Muslim, a human being,” she tells them. “No matter what challenge you face.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2025.

Rianna Lim, The Canadian Press