Community sponsors – Sponsoring refugees

Some community organizations can sponsor refugees to come to Canada.

The organization must agree to give emotional and financial support to the refugees for the full sponsorship period - usually one year.

Effective October 19, 2012, community sponsors may only sponsor applicants who are recognized as refugees by either the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or a foreign state.

Determine your eligibility

A community sponsor can be an organization, an association or a corporation. Find out more about eligibility.

Apply

Follow the steps to sponsor a refugee as a community sponsor.

Check processing times

Find out how long it will take CIC to process your application.

After you apply: get next steps

Find out what you should do after you apply to sponsor a refugee.

Quebec has its own process to sponsor refugees. Sponsors who live in the province of Quebec should contact the Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles.