Actually we DO resettle refugees to specific areas. We don't dump them all on Toronto.
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar...cId=5002076987
The government recommends that the refugee stay in their settlement post for 1 year to really give the area a chance. But most are willing to give up the benefits of staying in their settlement post (both financial and otherwise) to move to a big city. As the article mentioned, usually the refugee is looking for a community to lean on.
In the case of my french teacher from Rwanda, he was initially given a post in Calgary. He was told that there were plenty of entry-level jobs in Calgary. Sure he had degrees in education and geography, but for the sake of his family he was willing to take a janitorial job or dishwashing job. One small problem. Being from Rwanda he spoke only two languages: Kinyarwanda and French. He had trouble finding ANY work in Calgary and even found it difficult to get services. He avoided going out to restaurants and other things we take for granted because he didn't know English. He did stay for the full year as recommended by Immigration, but then moved to Gatineau, Quebec where he was able to find work almost immediately. He said he was grateful that Canada took in him and his family, but didn't understand why they would put him in Calgary where he had to live off government assistance when he would have been much happier earning his way through life in a french area of Canada.