A family of Syrian refugees in Amman, Jordan rejoiced Friday, as they received news that they will be re-settled in Canada, after more than three years waiting in limbo for a chance to start a new life, far from the suffering and misery of war.

The family was surprised to receive a call at 7 p.m. Thursday to come for an interview the following day — part of the weekend in Jordan — at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

“They asked my father just two things. Are you ready to go to Canada before Dec. 30?’ said his son, who didn’t want to be named because he still has relatives in Syria. “Of course, he said yes. Then they said can we transfer your file to the Canadian Embassy?”

The family of five feels blessed to be among the 25,000 refugees Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to resettle before the end of 2015, as UN officials and Canadian visa officers in Amman work through the weekend to make this happen. The son has an interview with the UNHCR on Saturday morning.

There is a bittersweet undertone to the family’s story, however; a sister died earlier this year, unable to afford the medical treatment she needed to treat her cancer. “We remember her every minute,” said the son. “We have been on the list to be resettled for three years.” They registered with the UN in 2012, as soon as they crossed the border from Syria into Jordan, and settled in a rented apartment in Amman. They have waited for three years to find freedom and safety.

Until recently, Canada was taking in very few government-sponsored refugees, and the wait time for privately sponsored cases was as long as a year. All that changed once Trudeau took office last month.

Only about 1 per cent of Jordan’s 630,000 Syrian refugees will be re-settled in the West. The UNHCR prioritizes families with medical conditions, the elderly, children and other vulnerable people, and excludes anyone who doesn’t have proper identity documents or may have been a former combatant. It also tracks biometrics — including retinal screening — of refugees it registers, while Canadian visa officers do more intensive screening for security, including checks with CSIS, RCMP and CBSA.

Hosting such a large number of refugees has placed a strain on Jordan, which recently had to stop providing free medical care for the refugees, who are not allowed to work in Jordan.