More than 270 Syrian refugees have already landed in Canada since Nov. 4, and another 1,015 permanent resident visas have been issued to those who have yet to arrive, according to an

The majority of the 271 refugees who arrived in the past month 鈥� 208 鈥� were privately sponsored. Another 305 refugees have been booked on commercial flights to Canada in the coming days.

The government-sponsored refugees have yet to begin arriving en masse as willing to provide transportation for 10,000 people by the end of the year.

Another 15,000 Syrian refugees are expected to arrive in early 2016.

More than 9,000 refugee resettlement applications are currently in progress and 1,015 permanent resident visas have been issued to those who have yet to land in Canada.

Dozens of communities across the country are preparing to welcome privately-sponsored refugees, government officials said. There are also 36 refugee hubs across Canada where temporary shelter will be provided for government-sponsored refugees.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Wednesday that his city is ready to welcome refugees and provide them with 鈥渟table, decent roofs鈥� over their heads.

The immediate focus will be on housing, language training and integration into the workplace, Nenshi told reporters. He said he has no doubt that Syrian refugees will quickly adapt to life in Canada, as have other waves of asylum-seekers throughout Canada鈥檚 history.

鈥淚t鈥檚 in our DNA to welcome people,鈥� he said.

Ottawa has been working with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to identify Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan who may be resettled in Canada.

The UNHCR has sent more than 41,000 text messages to potential applicants to see if they are interested in coming to Canada. As of Nov. 30, more than 1,800 have been referred to Canadian immigration officials on the ground for an interview.   

As the UNHCR interviews potential applicants, there is an 80 per cent dropout rate, Canadian officials said. That includes refugees to who don鈥檛 need to be resettled or don鈥檛 want to move to Canada because they are hopeful they will eventually be able to return home to Syria.

It is estimated that the cost of resettling Syrian refugees in Canada will be $678 million over six years.

With files from CTV's Omar Sachedina