Immigration minister extends pause on new private refugee sponsorships to 2027

Unfortunate, one of the more successful programs, in terms of both outcomes and support of Canadians:

Immigration Minister Lena Diab has extended the pause on new applications through the Private Sponsorship for Refugees Program for another 12 months as the department works to clear its backlog.

New ministerial instructions were published in the Canada Gazette on Friday, along with a notice on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website.

The pause was to be lifted at the end of December but will now be in place for another year, until Dec. 31, 2026.

This pause applies to refugee sponsorships submitted by community organizations or groups of five or more individuals. These sponsors have to support the refugee for one year after they arrive or until they can support themselves, whichever comes first.

Applications that were submitted before the pause took effect on Nov. 29, 2024 will still be processed, according to the notice.

Gauri Sreenivasan, Canadian Council for Refugees co-executive director, called the extension a “cruel blow for refugees” in a phone interview with The Canadian Press.

“This decision basically denies Canadians the ability to exercise our own generosity. And in that way, it’s really tone deaf to who we actually are as a country,” she said.

“I mean, government’s really losing touch with who we are.”

Sreenivasan said refugee sponsors were preparing to submit new applications in 2026, when the pause was originally scheduled to end….

Source: Immigration minister extends pause on new private refugee sponsorships to 2027