Canadians are opening their hearts and their wallets to try to help refugees fleeing Syria.

Organizations in Ottawa and across the country are overwhelmed with calls from ordinary people who are looking to do whatever they can. Ottawa's mayor called a meeting of minds this afternoon with religious groups and settlement organizations to capitalize on this groundswell of support.

It has taken one image, that haunting video of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach, to start the phones ringing across this country from Canadians looking to help. 

More than a dozen calls a day having been coming in to OCISO, Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization, from people wanting to sponsor Syrian refugees.

Leslie Emory is the Executive Director of OCISO, ‘These are all individuals who have been moved to action by what they've seen and there's no indication at this time of it slowing down.’

OCISO, which was formed out of the Vietnamese boat crisis in the late 70’s, is one of many groups that met Wednesday afternoon with Ottawa's mayor, trying to figure out a collective response to an unprecedented crisis.

‘The purpose is to bring people together,’ says Ottawa mayor Jim Watson, ‘to start a dialogue to see what we can do as a city to help in these desperate times.’

And they are desperate but sponsoring a refugee to Canada is an expensive and cumbersome endeavor.  Sponsorship holders, like the Anglican Diocese in Ottawa, hope this crisis will prompt a fundamental change.

Don Smith is the chair of the refugee working group with the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, ‘If we're going to speed this up,’ says Smith, ‘Canada and Canadian taxpayers are going to have to pay for more immigration officers right through the system. If you want to put 3 or 4 or 5 times more cases through, you need to put in place 3 or 4 or 5 times more immigration officers.’

In anticipation of that, one Ottawa councillor is hosting an information session next Thursday at the Hintonburg Community Centre for residents in his ward so sponsors can move quickly once they're given the okay.

‘If there's enough coordination of that to make it a real effort,’ says councillor Jeff Leiper, ‘I don't think the federal government can fail but to hear that.’

Still, getting to Canada is no guarantee of citizenship.  After 3 years here, Mohammed Al Rayyan's wife is facing deportation.  Al Rayyan, who is Canadian, says he sponsored Dima Siam while he was on social assistance, but a job came through for him shortly after that.  Al-Rayyan says he paid back what was owed and was surprised when his wife, who was living in a Syrian refugee camp before she came to Canada on a vistor’s visa in 2012, was issued the deportation order. Al-Rayyan says it appears that order has been put on hold, given the situation in Syria but he is terrified his three Canadian kids could soon be without their mother.

‘If she doesn't get landed (immigrant status) here, what are her choices?’ says Al-Rayyan, ‘She doesn't even have status in Syria and was living in refugee camp.  If she cannot stay in Canada and obviously she can't go back, what can she do?’ he says, “go to Mars or the moon?’

Syrians living in Ottawa will rally this Sunday to draw attention to the plight of their people.  That rally happens at 4 p.m. at the Human Rights Monument on Elgin.  Ultimately, though, it is the federal government that controls immigration and right now, the conservatives have promised 10,000 refugees over 4 years.