NEW The Advantage Newsletter: The Canadian Refugee Sponsorship Immigration Program
Canadian not-for-profit and charitable organizations have been instrumental in assisting and sponsoring refugees to get to Canada for many decades. The Private Sponsorship and Refugees (PSR) Program through an act of the Federal Government. A key objective of the PSR Program was to increase Canada’s capacity to resettle refugees by engaging additional stakeholders, including through Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) organizations who were experience and capable of providing needed support services in local communities. As authorized and approved by Citizen and Immigration Canada (CIC), SAH organizations have a legal responsibility for each named refugee and for establishing programs that provide and direct financial and resettlement support for such persons entering Canada as refugees. In turn, these organization have also been authorized by CIC to appoint Constituency Groups (CG) who have authority to act on behalf of the SAH organizations under the terms of an Agreement between them.
Sponsorship Agreement Holders and their Constituent Groups are one of three ways that Canadian organizations and Canadians can participate in refugee sponsorship, including:
- Groups of Five (G-5s) composed of individual Canadian citizens
- Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs) and their Constituent Groups (CGs)
- Community Sponsorship by organizations, associations or corporations
For Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) Organizations
If your organization has an agreement with Citizen and Immigration Canada to sponsor refugees and you form, appoint, train, coordinate and support local Constituent Groups and Sponsor to do the work of resettlement, read: The Canadian Refugee Sponsorship Immigration Program: A Legal Liability and Insurance Perspective for Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) Organizations by Ken Hall.
For the full article, Church & Charity Protection Plus Members can access the information in the Ministry Leadership Resources – Click Here
For Constituent Group (CG) and Co-Sponsor Organizations, Including Churches
If your Church or Charity is sponsoring refugees, including under the auspices of a Sponsorship Agreement Holder organization, read: The Canadian Refugee Sponsorship Immigration Program: A Legal Liability and Insurance Perspective for Constituent Group (CG) and Co-Sponsor Organizations, Including Churches by Ken Hall.
For the full article, Church & Charity Protection Plus Members can access the information in the Ministry Leadership Resources – Click Here
In addition to our Advantage Articles the following online resource is available:
“Protecting Charities and Not-For-Profits Participating in Refugee Sponsorship Programs” by Sean S. Carter and Terrance S. Cater of Carters Professional Corporation
Link: http://www.carters.ca/pub/bulletin/charity/2016/chylb377.pdf
