In communities such as Yellowknife, the temperature can sink to -40C, a dramatic change for refugees who had ‘never experienced anything like it’

After a rocket hit his sister’s house and killed his brother-in-law and nephew, Mustafa Alhajy knew he had to leave Syria.

He was not expecting to end up in the kind of place where snow blankets the ground for months at a time and temperatures drop to -40C (-40F).

As refugees in Lebanon, the family took courses to prepare them for the move to Canada. They were warned it would be cold, but just how cold would depend on where they ended up.

The Canadian who spent C$1.5m to rescue more than 200 Syrian refugees Read more

“Then we arrived in Yellowknife,” Mustafa said, a city of some 19,000 people that ranks among the coldest cities in the world. “That was a surprise.”

In the past 14 months or so, Canada has welcomed 40,000 Syrian refugees. For many of them – especially those who ended up in Canada’s northernmost territories – new lives have come with a crash course in dealing with extreme weather.

Within hours of landing in Yellowknife, the Alhajy family – Mustafa, his wife and their four children – were taken on a shopping expedition to stock up on winter gear. “Our sponsors bought us parkas and boots for -50C (-58F) weather,” said Mustafa through a translator. “We had never experienced anything like it.”



The shopping trip was the final detail in the carefully planned operation to bring the family to Yellowknife as privately sponsored refugees. Months earlier, a small group of residents had come together to raise money, under a program that allows Canadians to bring refugees to the country in exchange for covering their expenses for the first year or so and helping the newcomers settle into their new lives.

Another family which arrived under the scheme found themselves in Whitehorse, Yukon, just as winter was starting to make itself felt. “The two biggest challenges we faced were the language and the cold,” said Semra Ahmet, through a translator.



Before arriving in Whitehorse – where temperatures can also drop to -40C in the winter – Ahmet, her husband and their three kids were living in Turkey, where they had ended up after fleeing Syria. They had seen some snow, but much of what they knew about winters came from TV. “It looked interesting and fun,” she said.

Reality, they soon found out, was far less glamorous, involving frozen eyelashes and slowly shuffling along icy patches. “At the beginning it was very hard, but we are now coping very well,” said Ahmet.

The Ahmet family had a slight advantage – they were able to glean lessons on dealing with winter from the Arafat family, who in January 2015 became the first Syrian refugees to be settled in Canada’s northernmost territories.

The Arafat family arrived in Whitehorse not quite knowing what to expect. En route to the Yukon, their plane had stopped in Montreal, where they nervously asked around about the city that was to become their new home, said Hassan Hussein Arafat, the eldest of the family’s nine children. “And they said: ‘Don’t go to Whitehorse – there aren’t many people there and it’s freezing,’” said Hassan.

Soon after arriving in the city, however, the family realised there was little truth to what they had been told. “There was nothing right about their warnings,” said Hassan, 23. “People were so good to us when we arrived in town.”

Still, it was January when the family arrived, leaving them struggling to adapt to driving snow and bone-chilling temperatures. “The cold here is really cold. It’s hard to imagine how cold it gets,” he said. “Luckily everything has heating here, even the cars. So you don’t really feel the cold unless you go outside.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Temperatures in Yellowknife have required some adjustment among the Alhajy family. Photograph: Nazim Awan/Yellowknife NT

While he still prefers to play soccer, his younger siblings have embraced the winter climate, taking advantage of sports such as ice-skating and sledding.

Arctic Ramadan: fasting in land of midnight sun comes with a challenge Read more

Like the other families settled in Canada’s north, Hassan was quick to point out that the challenges of winter are more than compensated for by the kindness of locals and job opportunities. Both he and his 21-year-old brother were able to find jobs soon after arriving in the city.

In Yellowknife, the sentiment is echoed by the Alhajy family. “I love Yellowknife,” said Mustafa. Soon after arriving in the city, he began working in a local cafe. “Our sponsors have prepared everything for us – we feel at home.”

Their first winter in Canada has brought some pleasant surprises – within weeks of their arrival, the family caught their first glimpse of the northern lights. “They were amazing,” he said. “We had never even heard about them.”

He’s now quick to describe Yellowknife – a city some 250 miles south of the Arctic Circle – as his second home. “Everyone knows we are Syrian refugees. They stop and shake hands with us and ask us how we are doing,” said Mustafa. “Here it’s not warm in weather, but warm in emotions and feelings.”