Resettlement policy

1. The Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), which was affirmed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018, recognizes the expansion of resettlement and complementary pathways as one of the four objectives of the GCR;
2. In that regard, UNHCR has developed a three-year Strategy (2019 – 2021) on resettlement and complementary pathways with the goal of increasing the number of resettlement spaces envisaged by the GCR;
3. This Strategy envisions the admission by 2028 of 2 million refugees through complementary pathways, which are defined as safe and regulated avenues for refugees that complement resettlement by providing lawful stay in a third country where their international protection needs are met;
4. The CCR welcomes the expansion of third country solutions through complementary pathways to address the huge gap in securing adequate resettlement spaces for the refugees globally;

1. Some refugee women in need of resettlement fit the special criteria of the Women at Risk Programme (in general women in urgent need of resettlement (Stream A) or women who require longer term settlement assistance (Stream B));
2. The CCR has called for the expeditious processing of Stream A cases;
3. The CCR has affirmed the use of the Joint Assistance Initiative (formerly Joint Assistance Programme) for Stream B cases;
4. Citizenship and Immigration officials have indicated that refugee women fitting the Stream A of the Women at Risk Programme have been processed as government-assisted refugees (CR1) because CR1 refugees can be processed more quickly than Women at Risk cases;
5. When Stream A Women at Risk cases are processed as CR1s they are not counted in Women at Risk Programme statistics;
6. Citizenship and Immigration Canada has not followed up on its review of the Women at Risk Programme nor responded to the recommendations adopted by the CCR in November 1994;

1. Consultations on resettlement policy and practices have been launched by the UNHCR;
2. EXCOM Conclusion 19(p) of October 1995 states "The Executive Committee reiterates the continued importance of resettlement as an instrument of protection and its use as a durable solution to refugee problems in specific circumstances; welcomes the initiative in commissioning an evaluation study and the UNHCR consultation on resettlement; and encourages UNHCR to continue the process of dialogue with interested Governments and non-governmental organizations to strengthen its activities in this connection, and to provide regular reports to the Executive Committee";

CCR has numerous resolutions on refugee resettlement targets and levels, including Resolution 14 of November 2003 on “Refugee Resettlement Targets”;

1. Countries interpret the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees on the basis of widely differing standards and criteria;
2. CIC is inconsistent in its policy in interpreting what constitutes a durable solution;

1. There are minor orphans of war or civil strife or in other refugee-like situations whose future is limited without resettlement;
2. Current procedures for the sponsorship of orphaned minors are inadequate;

1. CIC is committed to implementing a model for referral agencies as one of the access control mechanisms for identifying refugees for resettlement to Canada;
2. CCR has expressed some concerns with how the potential models will be designed and implemented particularly with respect to controlling the ability of refugees to access resettlement as a means of protection and as a durable solution and with the impact and implications of these models for the referral partner agencies;

1. The Canadian Government has enacted new regulations for managing access to the refugee resettlement program;
2. The new provisions require refugees seeking resettlement to obtain a private sponsorship, or a referral from UNHCR or a designated referral organization;
3. No referral organizations have been designated to date, other than UNHCR, and none is likely be designated before the end of 2003;
4. Refugee referrals to the refugee resettlement programme will be insufficient to meet the targets for 2003;
5. There is a limited exception for direct access for refugee referrals in certain geographic regions which the Minister designates;

1. CCR Resolution 39, June 1994 condemned cost recovery fees for Convention refugees and their dependants and requested that processing fees be eliminated for refugees and CCR Resolution 12, May 1995, called the Right of Landing Fee discriminatory, exclusionary and racist and called for the repeal of the Right of Landing Fee for all newcomers to Canada while recognizing the particular burden the head tax laid on refugees;
2. CIC is likely to implement a "user pay" cost recovery fee to pay organizations abroad who are contracted to refer and/or process refugees for resettlement to Canada. The cost recovery mechanism will create additional debt burdens for refugees resettled to Canada;
3. The cost recovery mechanism creates a two-tier system for refugees seeking resettlement because neither sponsors nor UNHCR charge fees to refugees for referral;

1. Stateless people are in a vulnerable situation because they have no protection from a state;
2. IRPA does not specify stateless persons as a group needing protection or eligible for landing on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.