Jim Estill lives his life by a simple credo: Do the right thing.

So when the CEO of appliance company Danby heard about the situation in Syria, where an estimated six million people have fled the country due to ongoing violence, he knew exactly what he was going to do.

“It’s real tough to get in front of Danby employees and say ‘Do the right thing, and oh, by the way, I’m just going to ignore what’s going on in the world,’” he says.

More than a year ago, Estill committed to putting up $1.5 million of his own money to bring 50 refugee families to Guelph.

Forty-seven of those families have arrived. Estill has since committed to taking on eight more families in the next few months, and potentially more beyond that.

“I didn’t want to stand by and do nothing during the greatest humanitarian crisis of my lifetime,” he says.

One of the more recent arrivals is Firas al-Mohammad, who arrived in Canada with his wife and four-year-old daughter on Dec. 12.

While they’ve only been here for a few weeks, he says, he and his family are grateful for the “clear future” and “stability” of their new home.

“When we are sleeping at night, we are sleeping (peacefully),” he says.

Bringing refugees to Canada is only the first step in Estill’s resettlement effort.

A team of 800 volunteers helps the families adjust to every facet of life in Canada, from taking English classes to signing up for library cards.

Estill has set the organization up similar to a business, with positions like a director of jobs, a director of transportation and a director of mentorship. Every family is paired with two mentor families – one English-speaking and one Arabic-speaking.

“What you really need is successful settlement – and that is people having jobs, people speaking English, people paying taxes, buying groceries where you or I buy groceries, and launching a new life,” he says.

He’s also started what he calls an ‘ease into Canada’ program – something which gives refugees a bit of paid work in Danby’s warehouse, as well as intensive English classes and other training to help them adjust to their new country.

Al-Mohammad learned about Estill’s work through some of his friends who the businessman had already resettled in Canada.

Friends and relatives of families already brought over seem to be the main source of new leads for Estill these days.

One man named Abdul – he didn’t want his last name used in this story – arrived last summer, after hearing about Jim Estill and Guelph from a cousin who had been resettled.

“This is one of the most generous things that any person has done,” he says.

“We cannot thank him enough for this.”

Estill has even helped Abdul make arrangements to open a dollar store later this year.

For Abdul, who remembers both a “difficult” 3.5-year stay in Egypt and what life in Syria was like before he left, the difference in Canada is obvious.

“When you’re working here, you feel like a free man,” he says.

“You don’t feel like a refugee anymore.”

More than a year after he began bringing families over, Estill remains amazed by the attention he’s received.

“Guelph has a population of 120,000 people – to bring in 50 families is nothing,” he says.

“What’s the big deal? You’re just doing the right thing.”

With reporting by Marc Venema