Australia's Syria welcome in Canada shadow

Canada has resettled 1000 Syrian refugees for every one Australia has welcomed to its shores in the past six months.

More than 26,000 refugees have been given a new home in Canada since November and another 10,000 are in the pipeline for resettlement this year.

Of those already accepted, 14,992 came under a government intake while 8960 were privately sponsored.

In contrast 26 Syrian refugees have arrived in Australia since the federal government announced a special intake of 12,000 in September.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has defended the slowly-slowly approach citing concerns that terrorists may use the intake to masquerade as refugees.

There was a trade in Syrian passports and false documents so there couldn't be short cuts on security checks, he warned.

The Canadian High Commissioner Paul Maddison insists his country hasn't cut any corners on processing and had worked closely with the United Nations refugee agency.

"Every one was fully vetted and screened," he told AAP in Canberra.

"There are those outside of Canada who have assumed we have taken unreasonable risk here, but the government has been very clear in explaining how that is not the case."

New Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, before his election in October, pledged to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees by late February.

His government sent 500 public servants to the Middle East to get the ball rolling as part of a whole-of-government effort.

It's also organised 100 charter flights to transport refugees.

The plight of Syrians fleeing their war-torn nation had captured the hearts of the Canadian public, Mr Maddison said.

"You often meet Canadians who will say to you, my grandparents came here with nothing from Russia ... or Ireland, pick the country of origin," he said.

Through hard work and community support they had been able to raise families and become prosperous.

Thousands of community organisations and citizen groups had privately sponsored refugees.

Among them were scores of Vietnamese refugees who went to Canada following the end of the war there in the 1970s.

Many now were successful business people and entrepreneurs who wanted to give back, Mr Maddison said.

"They remember the despair, the fear, losing loved ones," he said.

Major cities and rural centres alike were embracing the new arrivals.

The high commissioner said there had been very little community pushback against the ambitious refugee intake.

The government had established a special website for Canadians to track resettlement efforts.

Mr Maddison said it warmed his heart to see Syrian children learning to skate in Toronto.

"There they were smiling, laughing and wearing toques (beanies) ... You look into the eyes of the parents and you see that they now believe there's hope for their kids."

AAP lpm/rl/aab

Canada has turbo-charged its efforts to resettle 25,000 Syrians while Australia has taken a slowly-slowly approach to its intake of