Canadians are a welcoming people. Every year, we welcome between 40,000 and 50,000 refugees to our shores. And, for the last 50 years, Canada’s first-in-the-world private refugee sponsorship program has put Canadian citizens and communities at the centre of the action in resettling the world’s most vulnerable.
Canada has two main streams of refugees: those sponsored by private organizations and those assisted by government and publicly-funded settlement organizations. Both streams do good and important work. But private sponsorship – led mostly by churches and diaspora communities – is unique in relying on volunteers who sacrifice their personal time and money to integrate refugees into Canada.
Unfortunately, the federal government’s 2026 immigration plan cuts the private sponsorship of refugees by 30 per cent – a steeper rate even than the 13 per cent cut to government-assisted refugees.
It is one thing to prudently reduce immigration levels following a period of ultra-high immigration to Canada that strained our housing stock and health care system. It is another thing – and a mistake – to reduce the proportion of Canada’s refugees that are sponsored by civil society compared to those assisted by governments.
A recent Cardus study demonstrates the success of private refugee sponsorship in Canada. One survey found more than half of privately-sponsored Syrian refugees secured work within one year of arriving in Canada, compared to less than 10 per cent of government-assisted refugees. Privately-sponsored refugees also tend to earn higher incomes, in the short term and long term, than government-assisted refugees. This remains true when researchers control for variables like education and language skills.
Involves sacrifice
There are many reasons for these results, but one of the most important is the sacrifice involved in sponsoring a refugee. I recently met with the Khalaf family, refugees from Iraq who were sponsored by their cousin Nabel and the St. Joseph Syriac Catholic Church in Mississauga. The Government of Canada requires the sponsoring organization to put up at least $30,000 to help cover the refugee’s expenses for the first year, in part to ensure Canadian taxpayers aren’t on the hook. Nabel organized the money with the help of the Office of Refugees of the Archdiocese of Toronto.
Nabel and the St. Joseph’s community helped the Khalafs with everything necessary to integrate, including opening a bank account, getting a driver’s licence, finding a place to live, and booking doctor’s appointments. He even opened his home to the family before they got access to their own residence.
The Khalaf siblings, who were adults when they arrived, settled into Canadian life quickly. Faez, Fadi, and Fanan found jobs within days of arriving in Canada, thanks to members of the Iraqi community who were able to hire them. From there, they progressed to other jobs and worked on their language and skills training. Today, they remain gainfully employed and are starting their own families here in Canada.
The Khalafs’ story is one that many Canadians across the country will recognize. It is a story of genuine care and sacrifice for the sake of another. It is moreover a story of a community coming together to support a person in need.
“Friendly” v “Friends”
Surveys of refugees and their sponsors highlight this special relationship. Government-assisted refugees tend to speak of settlement workers as “friendly” but not as “friends.” Privately-sponsored refugees and their sponsors, by contrast, tend to use the language of “family,” and even “love.”
All of this highlights the importance of the principle of subsidiarity: the idea that citizens and local communities tend to have stronger relationships and a greater sense of care than bureaucracies, because they are closer to the issue or problem. Canada’s success in private sponsorship of refugees is a perfect example of subsidiarity in action.
That is why it is so baffling that the Government of Canada reduced the mix of privately-sponsored refugees this year. Canadians are willing to help integrate refugees. They have shown that they are good at it.
The government should leverage the care that Canadian citizens have shown for the world’s most vulnerable. Let’s hope that next year’s immigration plan fixes this and restores a better balance.
Renze Nauta is the Director of the Work and Economics program at Cardus. Before joining Cardus, Renze was policy director for two federal leaders of the Opposition and held various roles in the Prime Minister’s Office.