London could be home to about 20 government-sponsored ­Syrian refugee families, boosting the city’s overall number to just short of 100 families, The Free Press has learned.

City and settlement-agency staffers met in Toronto this weekend with federal politicians who spelled out a bit more clearly how the government’s unfolding plan to take 25,000 Syrian refugees — 10,000 by year’s end, and another 15,000 by the end of February — is expected to finally shake out.

“The purpose was to share information, for the people on the ground, so that we can strategize how each community would welcome refugees as they arrive, and to make sure they had supports on all levels,” said Mayor Matt Brown, who didn’t attend the meetings in Toronto, but was briefed on them.

Municipalities were told that about 80 per cent of the 10,000 refugees who will come before the end of 2015 would be privately sponsored — mainly through church groups and other organizations.

About 75 such privately sponsored refugee families were already expected in London before the end of the year. What’s now known is that another 18 or 19 government-sponsored families will arrive by year’s end, though it’s still unclear how many more federally sponsored refugees will arrive next year.

All of the refugees are being assessed in their host countries — Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, and will get immediate permanent- residency status on arrival in Canada because they will have passed health and security screenings overseas.

“By processing them in that way, when they arrive in Canada they can go to their host communities right away,” Brown said.

Brown and Valerian Marochko, executive director of the Cross Cultural Learner Centre, London’s lead settlement agency, will be in Ottawa Tuesday for a cross-Canada forum about the challenges cities will face as they welcome the refugees.

It’s expected those at the conference will learn about how to help mobilize their communities to support refugees.

Londoners have so far raised about $400,000 to help resettle refugees here in a community campaign.

Kate.dubinski@sunmedia.ca

Twitter.com/KateatLFPress