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Toronto and Montreal had better get ready to roll out the welcome mat. That’s because those two cities are set to become home to nearly two-thirds of the 10,000 Syrian refugees the government plans to resettle between now and the end of the year.

Documents obtained by Postmedia News show that as of Nov. 19, Citizenship and Immigration Canada had more than 2,600 sponsorship applications from the Greater Toronto Area, and more than 3,000 from the Montreal region.

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Of the total number — 9,500 — of applications in the countrywide queue, about 7,700 were from private sponsors such as families and church groups. The government had sponsored most of the other 1,800.

The numbers line up with what the Liberal government had said would be the breakdown of the first wave of Syrian refugees to be resettled into Canada by Dec. 31. A second wave of 15,000 is due to follow in January and February.

The documents provide a detailed city-by-city breakdown on where those refugees are expected to go. Refugee groups have been asking the government for this information, saying it is essential for knowing how much they need to ramp up, and for determining what types of services will be needed.