Private sponsorship

What is the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Toolkit?

The toolkit is a practical web-based resource to provide information about private refugee sponsorship to groups across Canada.

The toolkit includes:

• Information about program options across the country
• Information about how to prepare an application for sponsors and refugees
• Resources for sponsors and refugees (both pre- and post-arrival)
• Links to other resources
• Information about national and local organizations offering support to sponsoring groups

This resource is primarily geared towards groups applying to privately sponsor refugees through a Group of 2 to 5 or Non-profit organization (in Quebec), or a Group of 5 or Community sponsor (in the rest of Canada). However, it also includes a lot of information relevant for other types of groups. 

The Toolkit Table of Contents

Overview

Refugee sponsorship basics  / Different program options to sponsor refugees / Finding a refugee match  / Organizations and services

Application for sponsors

For Quebec: Organizations with an umbrella agreement  / Group of 2 to 5  / Non-profit organization

For the rest of Canada: Sponsorship Agreement Holders / Group of 5 / Community Sponsor

Applications for refugees

Application forms for refugees / Who can be included in an application / Refugee eligibility and admissibility

Applications in process

Submitting the file / Processing / Interview / After the interview / Travel to Canada

Other useful information

Transportation loan / Finding help with settlement / Health / Permanent residence cards / Resources for refugee and sponsors / Family reunification / Travel ouside of Canada / Secondary migration and sponsorship breakdown

Connect with the CCR!

The CCR encourages sponsoring groups to become involved and work towards common advocacy goals by: 

• Participating in CCR meetings and webinars
• Registering for the CCR Listserv (email list)
• Consulting materials created by the CCR about private sponsorship
• Joining the CCR's advocacy efforts 
• Becoming a member of the CCR 

To read more about other ways to get involved see here!

The following is intended to clarify the situation regarding private sponsorship of refugees in 2017, in the wake of a series of announcements.

New applications

• Sponsorship Agreement Holders collectively can submit applications for a total of 7,500 people in 2017. These applications can be for people of any nationality and in any region – unlike recent years, there are no restrictions based on geographic regions (known as visa office sub-caps). Individual Sponsorship Agreement Holders will be allocated a certain number of spaces from the 7,500 total.
• Groups of Five and Community Sponsors continue to be limited to sponsorships of people with a document proving they have refugee status, issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or by the country where they are currently living. An exception to this rule was in place for Syrians and Iraqis, but the government imposed a limit of 1,000 Syrians and Iraqis for whom applications can be submitted benefitting from this exemption, starting on 19 December 2016. As of 25 January 2017, this limit had already been reached. There is no limit on the number of people for whom sponsorship applications can be submitted by Groups of Five and Community Sponsors, as long as there is proof of refugee status. This includes additional Syrians and Iraqis over and above the 1,000 benefitting from the exemption, if they have proof of status (but this is not possible for most Syrians and Iraqis).

The above rules apply to sponsors outside Quebec.

Note that it is very unlikely that the people for whom applications are submitted in 2017 will arrive in 2017 (even 2018 is optimistic).

Quebec

• Beginning 27 January 2017, no private sponsorship applications at all can be submitted by any type of sponsorship group in Quebec. No date has been given for when this suspension will be lifted.

Applications in process

As of late November 2016, there were 45,000 persons for whom applications for private sponsorship were in process.

Under the 2017 immigration levels, the federal government has set a target of 16,000 privately sponsored refugees to arrive in Canada (including Quebec). Of this total, 4,400 are expected to be resettled to Quebec, according to Quebec’s 2017 immigration plan.

Clearly, many of the 45,000 people who are waiting will not have their applications finalized in 2017.

Former Minister McCallum promised that all Syrians for whom sponsorship applications were submitted by 31 March 2016 (approximately 12,000 persons) would have their applications finalized by early 2017. Some of these persons arrived in 2016 but the remaining applications are a priority in 2017 for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.  

There is also a commitment to process the applications that have been waiting the longest. There are 6,400 applications that have been waiting for more than 3 years. However, given the commitment to the Syrians it is not clear that even all of those who have been waiting for more than 3 years will arrive in 2017.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has said that their goal is to eliminate the backlog of private sponsorship applications by 2019 and reduce wait times for new applications to about 12 months.