Over 35,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada since November 2015. We gathered the stories of three mothers who came to Canada last year as Syrian refugees. They were all pregnant when they arrived and have since given birth to some of Canada?s most adorable new citizens.We talked to each of them about their journeys to Canada, their impressions of Canadian parenting customs and the challenges of adapting to life in a new country as a mother.
Zaka Alsaleh, 35

Husband: Abdullah Darwish

From Aleppo, Syria

Left Syria in 2013 and moved to Turkey

Arrived in Canada July 14, 2016

Mom of six: Fadileh (age 17), Fatimah (age 15), Mohamad Nour (age 11), Rama and Reem (twins, age 8) and Reham, now six months old (born Dec. 30, 2016). Zaka and her husband, Abdullah, packed up their family of seven and left their home in Aleppo, Syria in 2013. They spent about three years in Turkey before coming to Toronto as privately-sponsored refugees in the summer of 2016. Zaka was four months pregnant when they arrived, and she gave birth to baby Reham on December 30, 2016. The family now lives in an apartment in a converted house in downtown Toronto.
This post is part of The Canada Project, a representative survey of Canadians from across the country. You can find out more by clicking the image above.
What made you decide to leave your home in Aleppo"

We had to leave because it started to become too dangerous. The shelling was hitting buildings on our street. We were especially...