How can the citizen sponsorship model be improved?

On May 5, Canada4Refugees, in partnership with Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute, held a one-day workshop with members of sponsorship groups, settlement agencies and refugees to discuss the challenges of the current citizen sponsorship model, and ways to improve the system. 

Three members of the Ripple sponsorship group are founding members of Canada4Refugees, an organization that aims to both promote and support the citizen sponsorship model for refugee resettlement through advocacy, education and awareness.

Several experts shared their insights into private sponsorship and overall refugee and migration issues in Canada, including Senator Radna Omidvar, an expert on refugee and immigration issues; Mario Calla, the executive director of COSTI settlement agency; Samantha Jackson of Lifeline Syria; Wendy Cukier, head of Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute and the Globe and Mail’s Doug Saunders, who has written extensively about migration issues. Most stressed the importance of the citizen sponsorship model that started in the 1970s, when private citizens sponsored more than 60,000 so-called ‘boat people’ - instead of the 4000 the government had anticipated. The response to the Syrian crisis was equally enthusiastic, but interest in private sponsorship has declined noticeably in Canada after its 2015/2016 peak.

The participants identified a number of challenges for citizen sponsors. They include finding sponsorship agreement holders (SAHs) as well as a lack of oversight from SAHs; lack of access to settlement training and limited funds; the long processing time for applications; weak links between sponsors and settlement agencies; a lack of communication between sponsorship groups and the Department of Immigration as well as limited availability of resources for refugees in rural and northern communities. Refugees’ access to work and language training was also noted as a concern. Another issue that was lamented is that there is no clear information about how many private sponsorship groups there are in Canada, and the difficulty to connect with them.

In a brainstorming and discussion session, a number of suggestions were made on how to improve the system.

·       Create an organization – possibly comprised of representatives of Canada4Refugees and the Refugee Sponsorship Training Programme – to work with the SAH Council to make more information and resources available to private sponsorship groups

·       Create a universal, non-faith based SAH that sponsors could go to for information and support. It should probably start in Toronto but could be replicated around the country if successful.

·       Create a better handbook outlining pre- and post-arrival obligations and improve access to resources and services for sponsorship groups

·       Comprehensive training and capacity building for front-line service providers as well as for sponsors, catering to diverse learning styles

·       Refugee voices need to amplified in conversations about sponsorship and refugee issues in general

·       More direct and clear information is needed on family reunification, which is important for mental health of refugees. IRCC may need to expand its definition of family, going beyond the Western notion of a nuclear family

·       Sponsors should be allowed to sponsor asylum seekers, e.g. those who have come across the border from the US.

·       Advocacy is needed to motivate the public to continue to sponsor refugees/have empathy for refugees. Telling stories, appealing to emotions can help.

At the end of the workshop, participants came up with suggestions for concrete actions that could be taken. They were ranked by the participants. Here are the top seven:

1.       Fund additional employees at ICRCC to review the backlog of applications, with a view of processing 50,000 refugee applications each year for the next five years.

2.       Call on the government to waive limits and quotas on the number of refugees for private and citizen sponsorships each year.

3.       Mobilize citizens who are not on-board – if we don’t change their perceptions, there will be no political change

4.       Invite fifty asylum seekers to a BBQ at Allen Gardens

5.       Create better communication channels to share information and ideas, and to enhance collaboration

6.       Create a secular SAH, similar to Lifeline Syria, that is transparent, open to working with all sponsorship groups, able to issue tax receipts and has staff that answers questions and makes referrals to other organizations

7.       Create a list of all private sponsors in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to build a network