The government-assisted refugees were mainly expected to be women, children and their family members from the Yazidi ethnic and religious minority.

"We've always had a tradition of offering protection on the basis of vulnerability, not religion or ethnicity, as such our response is focusing on all survivors of Daesh," said Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen at a press conference, referring to the Arabic acronym for the IS.

Some 400 refugees will have arrived by Wednesday.

The estimated cost for the resettlement is 28 million Canadian dollars (around $22 million).

More Yazidi and other survivors of IS "will arrive in Canada as privately sponsored refugees," said Hussen.

Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking minority living mainly in northern Iraq. Their ancient religion has made them targets of religious persecution by the IS.