“The Canadian government’s recent announcement of a $250,000 global ad campaign warning migrants that seeking asylum here is “not easy,” coupled with the suspension of private refugee sponsorships, is sending a chilling message: Canada’s doors are closing. With that, we are turning away our commitments to humanitarian principles, multiculturalism and our international obligations to uphold the rights of refugees.”
Month: December 2024
AURA’s Statement on Pause of Groups of Five and Community Sponsorship Applications
On November 29, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced a 13-month pause on the intake of Groups of Five (G5) and Community Sponsorship (CS) applications.
For context, there are currently around 100,000 refugees with private sponsorship applications already in process with IRCC. More than half are for G5s. The Government of Canada limits landings (arrivals) each year for each immigration program, and these were recently reduced by 17% in the Privately Sponsored Refugee category.
This meant that application processing times would continue to grow (to 3+ years) unless IRCC can manage intake (submission of applications). IRCC manages intake for SAHs by assigning us a certain number of spaces or allocations each year, but they cannot effectively manage intake for G5 and CS.
To reduce processing times, it would have been preferable for IRCC to increase arrivals, not reduce submissions. While we do not know the number, we imagine that thousands of G5 and CS sponsors were actively working on applications when the news arrived and they learned they would no longer be able to submit them, since IRCC did not provide prior warning that the programs would close. This is devastating for many sponsors and refugees who thought they were about to have an application in process.
AURA has already received requests from these applicants for their cases to be processed through us. We hope to help as many of these groups as possible in 2025 and will be looking at Anglican Church partners to make this possible.
You can help by donating to AURA to help us expand our work in this time of need.
Thank you for your support, and we hope you have a very happy holiday season and a new year!
Listen: What will Canada’s private sponsorship pause mean for refugees?
Listen to the segment from CBC’s The Current with Mark Gallaway on what the pause of Groups of Five and Community Sponsorship means: What will Canada’s private sponsorship pause mean for refugees? | The Current | On Demand | CBC Listen