Refugee family name baby after Justin Trudeau in thanks to Canada

A Syrian refugee family have named their new baby after the Prime Minister who made it possible for them to find safety in a new country.

The Bilan family arrived in the Canadian city of Calgary in February last year, having escaped war in their homeland.

Just two months earlier, Justin Trudeau and other officials welcomed the first planeload of refugees in person at Toronto airport, one of his first actions as Prime Minister.

So when Afraa Bilan gave birth to her son, the 22-year-old and her husband Muhammad, 29, knew what they were going to name him.

Justin Trudeau Adam Bilan was welcomed into the world at around 6.10pm local time on Thursday, healthy and with a weight of 7.5 pounds. He has two siblings - sister Naya, 4, and brother Nael, 2.

While Afraa said many Syrian children are named after their grandparents, the Bilans wanted their child to represent the country that accepted them.

"We are very thankful to this person because he brings lots of Syrians, a lot of refugees (to Canada)," Mrs Bilan told CTV Calgary.

She told the Toronto Star that her family had initially found it difficult to adjust to Canadian life because of the cold weather and because they did not know much English.

But they were very thankful to be there and, now, to welcome their first Canadian son.

She said: "He got his citizenship before us!"

The Bilans are not the first family to say thank-you to their new home in this way - another Syrian family in Red Deer named their newborn son Justin in November.

Mr Trudeau's refugee policy has led to the resettlement of more than 40,000 refugees in Canada since 4 November 2015, according to the Government of Canada website.