This document provides information and guidance for groups of five who want to sponsor refugees to come to Canada. It outlines the refugee situation globally with over 43 million forcibly displaced people. It then discusses Canada's response, including its refugee targets and how refugees can come to Canada through inland processing or overseas processing. The document explains who can be sponsored, the eligibility criteria, and considerations of other durable solutions and admissibility. It describes the different types of sponsors in Canada including Sponsorship Agreement Holders, community sponsors, and groups of five. The document reviews the responsibilities of sponsors and provides details on the required application forms and process that groups of five must complete to sponsor refugees.

1. Private Refugee Sponsorship
Applications:
Assisting Groups of Five
Fall 2010 OCASI Professional
Development Conference
November 4, 2010

2. Displaced People Worldwide
End of 2009 43.3 million forcibly
displaced people including:
– 15.2 million refugees
– 10.4 million UNHCR
– 4.8 million UNRWA
– 983,000 asylum-seekers
– 27.1 million IDP
*2009 UNHCR Global Trends http://www.unhcr.org/4c11f0be9.html

3. Facts and Figures
• 5.5 million refugees were in protracted
situations
– In 21 different countries
• Developing countries host 80% of the
world’s refugees
• 49% of persons of concern to UNHCR were
women and girls
• 41% of refugees and asylum seekers were
children under 18
*2009 UNHCR Global Trends http://www.unhcr.org/4c11f0be9.html

4. Durable Solutions
Voluntary Repatriation
- 251,500 refugees in 2009 (lowest since 1990)
Local Integration
Resettlement
- UNHCR presented over 128,000 refugees for
resettlement; approx. 84,000 were resettled
- Gov’t stats. Indicate that 112,400 refugees were
resettled with or without UNHCR assistance
*2009 UNHCR Global Trends http://www.unhcr.org/4c11f0be9.html

5. What is Canada’s response to
Refugees?
Canada’s Refugee Targets for 2010
– GAR: 7,500
– PSR: 5,290

6. Permanent Residents to Canada
by Category for 2009
Based on CIC statistics for 2009
Family, 25.86%
Economic, 60.87%
Other, 4.22%
Refugees landed in
Canada, 4.12%
GAR, 2.94%
PSR, 2.00%
Total Refugees, 9.06%

7. How do refugees come to
Canada?
Inland processing
Person arrives in Canada, and makes a refugee
claim
Overseas processing
Refugees processed overseas (sponsored
refugees) have their interviews, medical, security
and criminality checks conducted before arriving
in Canada.

8. Resettled Refugees
Privately
Sponsored
Funded by the
sponsoring group
Sponsors may be:
• SAHs or their constituent
groups
• Groups of Five
• Community Groups
May be either:
• Sponsor-referred
sponsorship
• Visa office-referred
sponsorship (VOR) (cost-
sharing may be available)
Full Responsibility by Private Groups… to Full Responsibility by Government
Government-
Assisted
Funded by the
government
Settlement agencies
contracted to
provide reception
and integration
under the
Resettlement
Assistance
Program (RAP)
Joint Assistance
Sponsorship (JAS)
Funded by the
government
Private sponsoring group
(SAH) provides:
• logistical and moral
support
For refugees identified
by visa office as
having special needs

9. Who can be sponsored?
Someone who has fled their home
country (except if a source
country) because they were in
danger and cannot stay in the
country they are currently in.

10. Eligibility
• Convention Refugee Abroad Class
– race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular
social group or political opinion
• Country of Asylum Class
– seriously and personally affected by civil war, armed
conflict or massive violations of human rights
• Source Country Class
– El Salvador, Columbia, Guatemala, Sudan, Sierra Leone,
Democratic Republic of Congo

11. Do they have other solutions?
• Voluntary repatriation – can they
return home?
• Local integration – can they stay
where they currently are?
• Resettlement – is going to Canada
the only solution?

12. Admissibility
• Security –do they post any security
threat?
• Criminal – have they committed serious
crime?
• Medical- do they have health issues that
threats the Canadian public health and
safely?

13. Who can sponsor?
Sponsorship Agreement
Holders (SAHs)
Community Sponsors
Groups of Five

14. Sponsorship Agreement Holder
An organization that has signed a Sponsorship
Agreement with the Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration which allows them to participate in
the resettlement of refugees through the
Private Sponsorship of Refugees program.

15. Community Sponsors
Any organization, association or corporation,
does not have to be incorporated, can sponsor
up to two refugee families per year (finances
permitting).

16. Group of Five
Any group of five Canadian citizens or
permanent residents can sponsor refugees.

17. Members of the group of five
must:
• be a Canadian citizen or permanent
resident,
• be at least 18 years of age,
• live in the community where the
refugee will live, and
• make and provide proof of, a financial
commitment to provide settlement
assistance and support for the length of
the sponsorship (usually one year)

18. Who cannot sponsor?
Some people are ineligible to
sponsor:
• persons convicted of serious criminal
acts
• persons in default of court-ordered
support payments
• removable and incarcerated persons
• persons subject to citizenship
revocation proceedings

19. What is the sponsor responsible
for?
To provide the refugee during the
sponsorship period with:
• reception
• care
• lodging and
• settlement assistance for the
sponsored refugees in the expected
community of settlement
*the sponsored refugee cannot access social
assistance during the sponsorship period*

20. Sponsorship Cost Table

21. In-Kind Deduction Table
In order to subtract the dollar value of available in-kind donations
from the cost of sponsorship, use the dollar figures provided on
the In-Kind Deduction Table (above) that correspond to the
appropriate settlement need (shelter, clothing, etc.) and the size of
the refugee family.

22. For how long?
• 12 months from date of arrival of
refugee
or
• until the refugee becomes self-
supporting and no longer requires
settlement assistance

23. Group of Five Guide –
IMM5414
Before you
complete your
application forms
to sponsor a
refugee, please
read the
Refugee Sponsorship Application Guide -

24. What information is in this
guide?
 Contact information
 Overview
 How to complete the forms
 Submitting your application
 What happens next?
 Citizenship and Immigration Canada centers
 Financial guidelines

25. What forms are needed to complete
a Group of Five application?
•Instruction Guide [IMM 5414]
•Undertaking/Application to Sponsor — Group of 5
[IMM 5373]
•Sponsor Assessment [IMM 5492]
•Settlement Plan — Group of 5 [IMM 5373A]
•Financial Profile — Member of Group of 5 [IMM 5373B]
•Document Checklist — Group of 5 [IMM 5437]
•Use of a Representative [IMM 5476]

26. Forms required to be filled out by
each member:
• Financial Profile
Form (IMM5373)
(if individual is making a
financial commitment)
• Sponsor
Assessment
(IMM5492)

27. Completing the Undertaking to
sponsor (IMM5373)
Make sure that you use the
current form.
Counter-check this with the
form on
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/inf
ormation/applications/group5.as
p

28. Choose the IMM6000 distribution option
X
The most preferred is option 3: Local CIC submits completed IMM 0008 and
approved Undertaking to visa office
For more information: http://rstp.ca/images/fbfiles/files/group5aug2009.pdf (p.13)

29. Print the name of your Group of Five, e.g. The Refugee Group.
In Box 1, print the name of the person who has authorization to
represent the group and act as the contact person, e.g. Maria X.
Print the address and other contacts such as phone, email etc.
In Section B fill in the name and contact information for all other
group members
Completing section A & B

30. Check “Yes” and provide the following information on a
separate page:
 Member’s first and last name (at time of sponsorship)
 Name of sponsoring group (where applicable)
 Name, date of birth, and country of birth of all persons
sponsored
 The client identification numbers issued as a result of
previous sponsorships
What if a member has submitted previous
refugee sponsorships or sponsored or co-signed
family class sponsorships?
X

31. Completing section C
If you are sponsoring a "visa office-referred” sponsorship
case: check the appropriate box and attach the Refugee Profile
that you received.
Sponsoring groups are required to sponsor the principal
refugee applicant and all family members at the same time.

32. Completing section D
You may link sponsorship cases together by providing
the name and date of birth of the principal refugee
applicant for each particular case. Filling out this section
ensures that all linked sponsorships are processed at
the same time by the visa office.

33. Completing section E
Print information on the refugee applicant's relatives
living in Canada. Include primarily close relatives
such as parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and
adult children.

34. Completing section F
Section F is not mandatory, CIC will not return or refuse the
application if you do not provide the information requested.
Page 14-16 of the guide provides details regarding the refugee
definitions, you are encouraged to consider these categories prior to
submitting an application.

35. Read and understand the
obligations of the sponsor to the
sponsored persons

36. Obligations of the sponsor(s) are outlined in Section G
In Section H each member of the group must sign the application
indicating that they understand their responsibilities

37. Completing the Sponsor Assessment (IMM
5492)
This form must be
completed by every
member of the group.
Group members may
wish to submit their
Sponsor Assessment
in a sealed envelope
to ensure
confidentiality.

38. Completing the Settlement Plan and Financial
Assessment - G5 (IMM 5373A)

39. Completing Financial Profile - G5
Member (IMM 5373B)
Group members who will
use their income as a
means of supporting the
refugee applicants MUST
complete the financial
profile.
Group members may wish
to submit their Financial
Profile in a sealed envelope
to ensure confidentiality.

40. Document Checklist
Ensure that you have
all required documents
and include the
completed checklist in
your sponsorship
application.

41. Use of a representative
A representative is
someone who has your
permission to conduct
business on your behalf
with CIC.
This can be a paid or
unpaid person, a friend or
family member, an
immigration consultant or
a member of a Non-
governmental
organization.

42. CASE STUDY

43. Completing section B - Settlement Needs
Checklist
Sponsoring group can inform CIC where in-kind donations
are available (e.g. used furniture), thereby reducing the total
funds required to sponsor the refugee.

44. Financial Assessment
The total financial commitment should equal or exceed
the final cost of sponsorship.
26,000
12,050
13,950

45. What happens next?
The Sponsorship Application Process
Visa office 30%
(months)
50%
(months)
70%
(months)
80%
(months)
Damascus 4 7 11 14
Nairobi 32 38 43 49
Pretoria 17 35 39 41
Islamabad 30 31 34 36
Bogota 6 7 10 17
Processing times for July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 available at:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/international/11-ref-private.asp

46. THANK YOU!
For further information, visit our
website at www.rstp.ca or
contact us:
416-290-1700
info@rstp.ca