The Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program (PSR) is a Canadian government initiative that allows for refugees to resettle in Canada with support and funding from private or joint government-private sponsorship. The government also offers semi-private sponsorship through the Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR) program, which connects private sponsors with pre-screened and pre-interviewed refugees.
The PSR program is part of the larger Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (GRSI), launched in Ottawa in December 2016, led by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Open Society Foundations, the Giustra Foundation, and the University of Ottawa.
Established in 1978 under Operation Lifeline, the program has since resettled and provided support for over 200,000 refugees under various initiatives and with fluctuating annual intakes. As of January 2020, the Canadian Government has resettled nearly 300,000 refugees through the PSR program since 1979. The Canadian system is constantly under reform to increase the involvement of refugees to shape their own resettlement experience; this program has influenced refugee policy in other Commonwealth countries as well, such as the UK and Australia.
History
The origins of the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) Program are in the 1970s' Indochina refugee crisis. Established in 1978, the program was initiated after the appropriate legal framework had been provided through the 1976 Immigration Act.
Results
As of January 2020, the Canadian Government has resettled nearly 300,000 refugees through the PSR program since 1979, while also helping with family reunification. Around 69,000 Syrian refugees have been resettled to Canada since November 2015. More than 42,000 non-Syrian refugees came to Canada through private sponsorship during the same period.
Of all refugees resettled in 2018, a total of 18,763 were privately sponsored, while 8,156 were government-assisted and 1,157 were admitted under the Blended Visa Office-Referred refugee (BVOR) program. The planned and actual admissions of PSRs in 2016 represented a significant increase over historical levels. That year, among a total of 27,957 resettled refugees, 4,434 resettled as BVOR refugees; while 18,362 were privately sponsored refugees, which slightly exceeded the planned admissions range of 15,000–18,000.
Sponsorship
A sponsorship group must support their privately sponsored refugee for one year upon their arrive or until the PSR can support themselves, whichever comes first.
Sponsors must meet the criteria for sponsorship, which includes being able to provide social and emotional support, as well as residential and financial support, food, and clothing. The sponsors are legally bound to provide income support, which generally ends after 12 months. Private funds provide for the first year of resettlement; while government covers health care/children's education. In the second year of resettlement, if the refugees become permanent residents when they arrive, they will be able to apply for means-tested governmental social welfare benefits if their sponsor has not been successful in helping them find employment.
People can choose to sponsor a specific refugee or refugee family, so long as they are eligible under the PSR program. If one chooses to sponsor a refugee they personally know, the processing time may take longer than the regular process and the Government of Canada will not provide financial assistance.
Types of private sponsorships
There are three types of private sponsors in Canada, which can be applied for directly through the Government of Canada or through Lifeline Syria: