Private Sponsorship of Refugees in Canada: How It Works

Canada is one of a small number of countries that allows ordinary citizens, faith communities, and organizations to bring refugees to Canada themselves, outside the government's own resettlement channels. This is the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program, and it's built on a simple idea: private Canadians and permanent residents commit their own time and money to support someone's resettlement, and in exchange, that person gets a route to permanent residence they might not otherwise have.

This article explains the structure of the program, who can act as a sponsor, and what sponsors are actually agreeing to.

What Private Sponsorship Is

Private sponsorship lets private citizens, groups, or organizations in Canada financially and socially support the resettlement of a refugee (or a group of refugees) living abroad, rather than relying solely on the federal government's own resettlement stream. Successful sponsorship results in the sponsored person becoming a permanent resident of Canada.

It runs alongside — not instead of — Canada's Government-Assisted Refugee (GAR) program, which resettles refugees identified largely through the UNHCR without a private sponsor's involvement.

The Two Main Sponsor Types

• Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs). Organizations — often religious, ethnocultural, or community groups — that have signed a formal, ongoing agreement with IRCC authorizing them to sponsor refugees on a recurring basis, sometimes through affiliated "constituent groups" operating under the SAH's agreement.
• Groups of Five (G5) and Community Sponsors. Five or more private Canadian citizens or permanent residents who come together, without an existing SAH agreement, specifically to sponsor a named refugee or refugee family. Some jurisdictions and periods also allow a "Community Sponsor" model with different structuring — the availability and exact rules for each category can shift, so confirm current options before committing.

Both routes require the sponsor(s) to take on real, binding obligations — this isn't a one-time donation model.

What Sponsors Actually Commit To

Sponsors do not need to be wealthy, but they do need to demonstrate they can genuinely meet the settlement commitment — this is assessed as part of the application, not just assumed based on good intentions.

How the Process Generally Unfolds

1. Sponsors organize and confirm eligibility. A Group of Five forms, or a Sponsorship Agreement Holder identifies a constituent group or case, and confirms the sponsor(s) meet the program's requirements.
2. A sponsorship application is prepared. This includes information about the sponsor(s), a settlement plan, and details about the person or family being sponsored, including their refugee status abroad.
3. The refugee's own eligibility is assessed. The sponsored person generally needs to be recognized as a refugee by the UNHCR or a foreign state (with some narrower exceptions), and they undergo the same admissibility screening — security, criminality, health — that applies broadly across immigration law.
4. IRCC reviews and decides. Both the sponsorship itself and the refugee's own case are assessed before a decision is made.
5. Arrival and settlement. Once approved, the sponsored person travels to Canada as a permanent resident, and the sponsor's settlement commitment period begins.

Private Sponsorship vs. Government-Assisted Resettlement

• Who identifies the refugee. In private sponsorship, the sponsor group is often directly connected to or has identified the specific person or family; in government-assisted resettlement, the government (working with the UNHCR) selects who is resettled.
• Who pays for settlement. Private sponsors cover the settlement costs themselves; government-assisted refugees receive government income support during their initial settlement period instead.
• Who provides settlement support. Private sponsors personally provide much of the hands-on settlement help; government-assisted refugees are connected with settlement service providers funded by government programs.
• Both paths lead to the same status. Whether privately sponsored or government-assisted, a successfully resettled refugee becomes a Canadian permanent resident with the same underlying status.

What Sponsors Should Think Through Before Committing

• The time horizon. Settlement support runs for a defined period, not indefinitely, but that period still represents a serious ongoing commitment for the sponsor group.
• What happens if the relationship changes. Sponsors should understand that the commitment is to the sponsored person's settlement, and stepping back partway through can leave real gaps — this isn't something to enter into lightly or informally.
• Whether the group can genuinely sustain the commitment. A Group of Five works best when members have realistically planned for the financial and time demands, not just the emotional motivation to help.
• Current program capacity and rules. Sponsorship agreement categories, group eligibility rules, and processing volumes change; always confirm the current framework with IRCC or a knowledgeable advisor rather than relying on how the program worked in a past year.

Frequently asked questions