The Canadian city of Vancouver marked World Refugee Day on Wednesday by unveiling the model of a refugee "welcome house" designed to provide one-stop services for those forced to flee their homeland to seek sanctuary in the city.

With a budget of 24 million Canadian dollars (about $23.5 million), the privately-financed, 6,874-square-meter facility is set to break ground in a year's time and be operational by June 20, 2015.

The Metro Vancouver Welcome House Center, to be operated by the non-profit Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia, will be constructed on land leased to the society by the City of Vancouver for a 60-year term at the cost of one dollar.

Chris Friesen, the society's settlement services director, told Xinhua that such resettlement assistance is needed as the current specialized supports and various provincial systems for refugees are fragmented.

"This will be the first facility of its kind bringing together a number of organizations, government departments, services, housing, health care, trauma treatment support," Friesen said, noting that such services will be available for those with or without a legal status.

With a local credit union announcing a 500,000-dollar donation for the project at a World Refugee Day ceremony, Friesen said other funding would come from the sale of the society's current headquarters in downtown Vancouver, via private donation and through a mortgage.

When completed, the Welcome House Center will include 28 units with up to 200 beds that will house newcomers up to two weeks, as well as various configurations of single family units capable of holding families of up to 16 people for up to one year.

Other features include a refugee trauma support center, child minding facilities, a playground, a food bank, a communal kitchen and meeting spaces, among others.

With Canada traditionally accepting around 30,000 refugees annually, Friesen estimated that the center could handle around 2,000 to 2,800 people a year.

He encouraged other countries and cities to build similar facilities to accommodate refugees, internally displaced persons and asylum seekers, the total number of whom is currently put at 42.5 million by the United Nations.