{"id":135,"date":"2014-03-09T22:56:16","date_gmt":"2014-03-09T22:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rstp.fantomdesign.net\/?page_id=135"},"modified":"2025-11-18T10:47:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T15:47:17","slug":"the-private-sponsorship-of-refugees-program","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/refugee-sponsorship\/the-private-sponsorship-of-refugees-program\/","title":{"rendered":"The Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) Program"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"text-box theme-bg-primary\">\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">IMPORTANT!<\/span><\/strong> Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has temporarily stopped accepting new applications from Groups of Five and Community Sponsors under the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program as of November 29, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>While this measure will remain in effect until December 31, 2025, IRCC will continue to process PSR applications already received prior to November 29, 2024, and to resettle sponsored refugees to Canada. <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>More information<\/strong> can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/immigration-refugees-citizenship\/news\/notices\/temporary-pause-intake-refugee-sponsorship-applications-groups-five-community-sponsors.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>here.<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program is a pioneering Canadian refugee resettlement program.<\/p>\n<p>Through the PSR program, Canadian citizens and permanent residents can engage in the resettlement of refugees from abroad. As members of organizations, associations and groups, citizens and residents can sponsor refugees overseas as any of following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/refugee-sponsorship\/groups-of-five\/\">Group of Five\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li>A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/refugee-sponsorship\/community-sponsors\/\">Community Sponsor<\/a><\/li>\n<li>A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/refugee-sponsorship\/sponsorship-agreement-holders\/\">Sponsorship Agreement Holder<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The PSR program does not rely on public resources, but rather taps the energy and funds of faith communities, ethnic groups, families and other benevolent associations. These groups and organizations typically raise funds or use their personal income to provide for and support the sponsored individual or family for their first year in Canada.<\/p>\n<p>They initiate the process by submitting a refugee sponsorship application package to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Their commitment lasts until the end of the sponsorship period, typically 12 months from the date of the sponsored person\u2019s arrival in Canada.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Began in 1979<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The arrival of Vietnamese refugees on Canadian shores \u2013 often referred to as\u00a0the \u201cBoat People\u201d\u00a0\u2013 in the mid 1970s mobilized Canadians to respond. In 1979, the Canadian government pledged to sponsor one refugee for each refugee that the Canadian public would financially and otherwise support privately. For the first time, ordinary people across the country became involved in assisting refugees to settle in Canada through private sponsorship. This changed forever the way Canadians would view their role in Canada\u2019s refugee resettlement programs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A model for the world<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Canada is the first country in the world to have a refugee sponsorship program where private citizens and the community is directly involved in the resettlement of refugees from abroad. It has become a model for other countries around the world.<\/p>\n<div class=\"text-box theme-bg-secondary\">\n<p>For more information on the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) Program:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Contact an RSTP Sponsorship Trainer in your Area <a href=\"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/contact-us\/\"><strong>HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Sign up for an upcoming Training Webinar\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/training\/webinars\/\"><strong>HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Watch video recordings of past training webinars <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/resources\/video\/past-webinars\/\">HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h3>How do I find a refugee to sponsor?<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-20941\" src=\"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/3242-b-bvor-web-banner_en-1-1024x210.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/3242-b-bvor-web-banner_en-1-1024x210.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/3242-b-bvor-web-banner_en-1-300x62.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/3242-b-bvor-web-banner_en-1-768x158.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/3242-b-bvor-web-banner_en-1-24x5.jpg 24w, https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/3242-b-bvor-web-banner_en-1-36x7.jpg 36w, https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/3242-b-bvor-web-banner_en-1-48x10.jpg 48w, https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/3242-b-bvor-web-banner_en-1.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>RSTP will match sponsoring groups with suitable refugees or refugee families through the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/special-initiatives\/how-can-i-sponsor-a-refugee-to-canada\/\">BVOR<\/a>\u00a0(Blended Visa Office-Referred) program. BVOR refugees have been identified overseas by the\u00a0<em>United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees<\/em>\u00a0(UNHCR), and have been approved by the Canadian government. They are considered the world\u2019s most vulnerable refugees. BVOR refugees include women at risk, LGBTQ individuals, survivors of violence and torture, and those who have had to leave their countries for political reasons. The Canadian government shares the costs of the sponsorship year with the sponsoring group, while the sponsoring group is responsible for resettlement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IMPORTANT! Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has temporarily stopped accepting new applications from Groups of Five and Community Sponsors under the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program as of November 29, 2024.<br \/>\nWhile this measure will remain in effect until December 31, 2025, IRCC will continue to process PSR applications already received prior to November 29,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":5,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"22407,22013,15515,14561,13870,13825","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"class_list":["post-135","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"featured_image_src":null,"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32348,"href":"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/135\/revisions\/32348"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rstptemp.turnbull.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}