Giving refugees the best chance to succeed

One lesson we learned from the influx of Syrians to Canada in late 2015 and early 2016 is that refugees supported by a citizen sponsorship group are far more likely to succeed than those backed by the government. Of the 25,000 Syrian refugees brought to Canada in that period, 16,000 came as Government Assisted Refugees (or GARs, as the bureaucracy refers to them) and 9,000 as citizen-sponsored. Many GAR families suffered for weeks in cramped hotel rooms as overworked settlement agencies (on which the government relies) found they didn’t have the resources to provide much help. GAR families were typically visited just once a week by agency staff in their hotel for an hour or so. Settlement agencies were simply overwhelmed trying to find housing, clothing, and other essentials. Many GARs felt abandoned. However, refugees assigned to a citizen sponsorship group were treated much better. That’s because citizen sponsorship provides refugees with a whole group of individuals who are committed to helping one particular family. The sponsorship group raises enough funds to pay for the costs of the family for their first year in Canada and provides a wide range of contacts and skills to help them settle successfully. While a settlement agency offers a single caseworker to assist the refugee family, a sponsorship group has a dozen or more people who are helping not as a job but as a personal commitment. The group finds appropriate housing and helps make the necessary medical, educational, and social connections for the family. The sponsorship model was invented in Canada in the 1970s and was widely adopted for the 60,000 refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia (often referred to as Boat People) who came here in that era. Most of them were hosted by citizen groups, so there is considerable available evidence about the success of the sponsorship model. The government’s own studies show sponsored refugees do better in the short and long term than government-assisted refugees. Not only does citizen sponsorship have better results; it is also less costly for the government. That’s because most of the living expenses for the refugee families—housing, food, clothing, etc.—are borne by the group, not by the government. As well, the living expenses provided to sponsored refugees are usually considerably higher than welfare rates, which are all the government provides. (It should be acknowledged that the government pays for health care, child tax benefits, and language training for all refugees.) Sponsorship has the additional benefit of enhancing our sense of community as neighbours, friends, professional acquaintances, fellow parishioners, and others work closely together and strengthen their relationships, thereby building a stronger notion of Canadian society and citizenship. No other country has yet adopted this very successful model, although many are looking at it now, with active encouragement by our government. Given all this, one would assume that government policy would prioritize sponsorship for refugees. But it does not. Rather, the government’s first priority has been GARs. Each year the government sets out the number of GARs it intends to bring to Canada and treats sponsored refugees as extras. This practice has become known as the principle of “additionality.” This might make sense if there were a shortage of sponsorship groups willing to adopt a refugee family. But that has certainly not been the case regarding Syrian refugees. Indeed, when in March 2016 the government scaled back the staff processing Syrian refugee applications, many sponsorship groups—as many as 3,000—were left in the lurch. Since then, sponsored Syrian refugee families have been trickling into Canada. But it is acknowledged by the government that thousands of them are still waiting to join their sponsors in Canada. It is time for a change in government policy. This coming October, when the government sets a target for the number of refugees to be welcomed in 2018, it should give first priority to sponsorship groups willing to host refugees recommended by the United Nations as the most vulnerable. And the government should ensure that the sponsorship demand is met before adding government-assisted refuges to the target. That change would be best for the refugees coming to Canada as well as for the many Canadians hoping to play their part in assisting them. John Sewell, former mayor of Toronto, is a member of Canada4Refugees.org. The full paper proposing the policy change can be found at https://canada4refugees.org/a-new-policy-for-settling-refugees-in-canada/ The Hill Times

Giving refugees the best chance to succeed

It is time for a change in government policy. This coming October, when the government sets a target for the number of refugees to be welcomed in 2018, it should give first priority to sponsorship groups willing to host refugees recommended by the United Nations as the most vulnerable.

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Giving refugees the best chance to succeed

It is time for a change in government policy. This coming October, when the government sets a target for the number of refugees to be welcomed in 2018, it should give first priority to sponsorship groups willing to host refugees recommended by the United Nations as the most vulnerable.

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