Yazidi family, separated by war, to reunite in Toronto

Waiting with anticipation at the arrivals gate at Toronto's Pearson airport, Saadi Mado will see his family for the first time in two years on Wednesday evening.

A Yazidi, Mado and his family fled their home in northern Iraq when ISIS attackedthe region and started killing and enslaving the Yazidi people.

"Whoever stayed home would be decapitated, the women and children would be sold like animals," saidMado.

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TheYazidisare a religious minority based mainly in northern Iraq. ISIS beganattacking theYazidi peoplein August 2014.

Fearing for their lives, Mado's parents left their home without any supplies and headedstraight to the Turkish border the family spent 48 hours without food or water.

When they arrived in Turkey,Mado continued on to Toronto while his parents, two brothers, sister-in-law and two nephews waited in a refugee camp.

He talked toCBC Radio's Metro Morning about his anguish the last two years.

"I was very, very sad. I was in a situation nobody wants to be in, to be far away from your family. You don't know what kind of situation they are in," he told Matt Galloway.

Now, just hours awayfrom their arrival, Mado said he "feels like crying."

Canadian effort to resettle Yazidis

In late October, the Federal Immigration Department committed to resettling Yazidi survivors in Canada, aiming to help women and girls fleeing sexual slavery and torture by Feb.22 of this year.

In January, that plan was reaffirmed by the newly minted Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen, who said his government would soon be providing a detailed update on their progress.

The number of people the government wants to resettle is stillunspecified the minister saidhe could not provide those numbers because doing so could endanger Canadian staff on the ground working with Yazidis.

Starting a new life

Mado is all too familiar with the roadblocks involved in bringing Yazidis to Canada. Many of his family members are still in Northern Iraq, where he says "we don't know what will happen to them."

He's working to bring them over but admits the process is"very hard."

In the meantime, he's looking forward to putting down roots with his immediate family in his new home, Richmond Hill, adding that they are considering starting their own business.

For now, he has just a few more hours to get through before his mother, father, brothers, sister-in-law and nephew arrive.

"It will be a fantastic moment," he said. "I have been thinking of them for two years."