Mamadou Tounkara welcomes his wife and children to Canada on Thursday night as they step into the arrivals lounge at Vancouver International Airport. (CBC)

A Prince George, B.C., restaurant owner has been reunited with his family after nearly 12 years, so he's throwing a party Friday night for his adopted city to show his gratitude.

Mamadou Tounkara welcomed his wife and three children to Canada from Guinea, West Africa, on Thursday at Vancouver International Airport, seeing them for the first time since he fled his homeland.

It almost didn't happen, but the people of Prince George raised $12,000 to help make sure it did.

In Guinea, one of African's poorest and most troubled countries, Tounkara ran a children's clothing store. But after he was imprisoned and tortured, he fled the country in 1998.

He eventually landed in Montreal, where he lived for two years before taking a bus across Canada to Prince George, in B.C.'s central Interior, because he heard he could get work as a tree planter.

Five years later he opened his own café and became a permanent resident of Canada.

"I plant trees for five years. … Now I have my own business," Tounkara told CBC News. Then came a long struggle to bring his wife and children from Africa, a costly and difficult process.

First meeting with youngest son

But Thursday he was finally able to bring his family together, seeing his wife, two sons and one daughter for the first time in 11½ years in a tearful reunion at the airport arrivals lounge.

Mamadou Tounkara had not seen his wife in nearly 12 years. (CBC)

For one of his young sons, 11-year-old Abrahim, it was the first time the two had met, since Tounkara fled before the boy was born.

"I am feeling very, very good, very happy," he said as the family embraced in the lounge.

But the tearful reunion on Thursday night nearly never happen.

It had cost Tounkara thousands of dollars to get his family's immigration approved in Guinea, and at one point, he feared he would not be able to raise the cash to pay for their flights to Vancouver.

No cash for plane fares

Working in his café, Tounkara had trouble raising the cash and it looked as if the travel documents would expire before he could do it.

So he turned to his new community for help. Jeanne Clough, an executive assistant for the local MP, took up Tounkara's case.

"He heard there was work in Prince George, got on the bus, started working," said Clough, who was so inspired she eventually put a lot of Tounkara's expenses on her own credit card..

Prince George Conservative MP Dick Harris and the rest of his staff supported Tounkara's refugee application and helped raise money.

Eventually, $12,000 was raised through several events, including a wine and cheese night, a silent auction and "Mamadou Day," which was officially recognized by the city and included music and food.

Full of gratitude

Tounkara is grateful for the help his community has provided.

"I say thank you very much. Thank you for helping me through my hard time. Thank you for everybody," he said.

The family is travelling to Prince George, a city of 71,000, on Friday and Tounkara is planning a big party at his Africa café in the evening to introduce his family to everyone.

"Oh, Prince George people very, very nice people," he said.

Harris says Tounkara earned a place for himself and his family in the community.

"He's already established himself in Prince George. He has so many friends because he such a nice guy, and I know that Prince George will love his family," Harris said.