Your Rights as a Privately Sponsored Refugee
Welcome to Canada!
If you are a privately sponsored refugee living in Canada (excluding Quebec), this resource is for you. If you are living in Quebec, please contact Immigration, Diversité et Inclusion for information.
Private sponsorship means that a group of people in Canada submitted an application to bring you here, and committed to providing you with support as well as money to cover your basic expenses for the duration of your sponsorship period.
This resource explains your rights, and what you should expect from your sponsors. It also explains what to do if you have concerns about the sponsorship, or believe that you are not receiving the support that you are entitled to.
Who are Private Sponsors?
Private sponsors are volunteers who have come together to sponsor you to come to Canada. They have committed to providing you with financial and settlement support. You may know your sponsors, as they could be your family members or friends, or your sponsors could be strangers that want to help you and that you are going to get to know in the coming months.
How Long is Your Sponsorship Period?
In most cases, the sponsorship period is one year. In very rare cases, the sponsorship period can be longer than one year if the Canadian government department Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) requested that sponsors provide more than one year of support before you arrived in Canada. If your sponsorship period is more than one year, you would have already been informed of this by IRCC.
(English)
(French)
(Amharic)
Mainly for refugees from Eritrea and Ethiopia
(Arabic)
(Armenian)
Mainly for refugees from Armenia, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey
(Kurmanji)
Mainly for refugees from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey
(Sorani)
(Farsi)
(Pashto)
Mainly for refugees from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan
(Tigrinya)
Mainly for refugees from Eritrea and Ethiopia
What Should You Receive from your Sponsors?
1. Financial support to cover your basic expenses for one year or until you become self-supporting, whichever comes first.
2. Settlement support for the duration of the sponsorship period.
What Are Your Settlement Responsibilities?
What Should You Do If You Are Not Receiving Enough support from your sponsors?
What Happens If You Choose To Move To A Different City In Canada?
What Should You Do If You Are Being Mistreated, Exploited Or Abused?
What Are Sponsors Not Allowed To Do?
What Will Happen To You If You Report Your Concerns To IRCC?
What Are Your Rights?
You have the right to express any concerns that you have with your sponsoring group. For example, if you have concerns about sponsors publishing information or pictures of you without your consent, or making decisions on your behalf, you have the right to raise your concerns with your sponsors.
Also, you are entitled to receive the financial and settlement support explained above from your private sponsors.
It is your right to contact IRCC to raise any concerns you may have, and to contact the police if needed.