It was an emotional reunion as members of the clan already settled in Canada were on hand to greet the family they hadn't seen in years.

"I was very happy," said Hayat Shao, mother to the Makhoo family's patriarch, Jamil. "It was like I owned the whole world when I saw my son coming through the gate."

It had been 13 years since the mother and son last embraced before their reunion at Pearson International Airport.

Like any Iraqi refugee story, the Makhoo's is filled with these kind of heart-wrenching anecdotes amid a tale of suffering, displacement and delays.

Three years ago the process to bring the family started out in what seemed like a relatively simple case, said Martin Mark, executive director of Office for Refugees of the Archdiocese of Toronto (ORAT).

With a wide-spread smile Iraqi refugee Jamil Makhoo (left) receives a hug from his cousin Roni Korkis who will now play an essential role during the Makhoo family's settlement, immigration and integration into Canada.

Photo by Evan Boudreau

"It started out in a very simple way," said Mark.

Mark said at the time the biggest challenge for the Makhoo family was its size. But at a cost of $12,000 per adult, the burden of sponsoring such a large family would have likely been too great for a parish alone. It was that reality which he said compelled Collins to sponsor the family personally as the archbishop of Toronto — something which was unprecedented despite the archdiocese's long history of refugee support.

"Our diocese was founded in the 1840s welcoming ... refugees from Ireland," said Collins. "We should all try to do that if we can — parishes are doing it, I'm doing it and I encourage others to do it as well. It's essential to who we are and that's why it is so central to our work."

Currently 120 of the 225 parishes in the archdiocese are sponsoring Iraqi Christian families fleeing Islamist persecution in their homeland after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, mostly families significantly less expensive than the Makhoo clan.

"Our parish committees are not prepared to come up with a lot of funds, a lot of income support and a lot of human resources so the cardinal thought let me help out with the biggest family because the largest family has the smallest chance to find a sponsor," Mark said. "Once Cardinal Collins volunteered to sponsor them we had a case."

But quickly the relatively simple case, which Mark said originally was expected to take 12 months, became complicated when the Canadian Embassy in Damascus, Syria, closed. This had the family pack up, temporarily move to Lebanon and start all over again as much of their paperwork expired during the transition.

Three years later delays kept coming, even on the day of arrival, as the plane the family flew in on was delayed by about three hours.

"(Shao) waited for 13 years, so to wait another couple of hours was nothing for her," said Roni Korkis, a Makhoo cousin. "For me these delays, the two and three hours, was like a whole year."

And now that the family is here the work is far from over. With limited to no English language skills, the family will initially rely heavily on family members already in Canada. They will also have Collins, his refugee committee at the archdiocese's pastoral centre and ORAT in its corner.

"We have to make sure that they don't use any government assistance so every assistance has to come from the Church," said Mark. "Additionally, we have to make sure that they have enough funds and income support to make sure that they don't go hungry and that they are not suffering here."

Less than 24 hours after arriving, the Makhoo family was out apartment hunting with the refugee committee who had already scouted out several three-bedroom apartments in Korkis' neighbourhood.

Although the journey towards full immigration and integration is far from over, the challenges ahead are those of dreams for the Makhoo family.

"I can't believe that I am in Canada," said Rita Makhoo, who was to celebrate her 26th birthday on May 25. "It was my dream to come to Canada and today it has come true."

Amer, Rita, Ilishouah, Ivel, Jamil and Montasser Makhoo (left to right), along with the grandmother Hayat Shoa, look on as the Makhoo's are welcomed into Canada as refugees.

Photo by Evan Boudreau