Canada Weighs Private Sponsorship Shift for Refugees in 2027 Immigration Levels Plan

Canada’s 2027 immigration levels plan reduces the number of eligible government-sponsored refugees to just under 12,000, down from more than 13,000 in 2025, while increasing the private share. The plan says about 29,000 refugees and another 20,000 protected persons and family members will be granted permanent residency status annually through 2029.

The figures set out a different mix for refugee permanent residence. They do not establish a new application intake rule or change refugee eligibility criteria. IRCC has not identified a separate date for when the revised allocation takes effect.

Private sponsors help refugees find housing and cover essentials such as food, rent and clothing during their first year in Canada. That support is one reason some advocates welcome the shift.

Renze Nauta, program director at Cardus, said privately sponsored refugees can receive more individual support and may integrate more successfully. He said Cardus wrote to Immigration Minister Lena Diab in September, asking the government to increase the private share after a prior reduction.

The new split draws support and concern over who provides protection

Lauren Lallemand, co-executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, criticized the transfer of a larger role to community groups. She said the change could weaken the state’s responsibility to provide protection.

“We’re disappointed to see what we interpret as a further kind of reduction in the state's ownership of their responsibility in making sure that people receive protection in Canada and basically just transferring it on to communities and members of civil society.”

Lallemand also pointed to global displacement and said the acceptance rate for people seeking refugee protection through asylum is above 70%. She argued that restricting access to safety is troubling. Those are her assessments, not findings established by the plan.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Diab have said the immigration system is back under control, citing a decline in newcomers, including refugees, since 2024. Nauta, by contrast, described private sponsorship as a way to use community support to help refugees settle.

A separate pause still blocks new applications from two sponsor groups

The allocation change does not lift IRCC’s pause on new applications from Groups of Five and Community Sponsors. The department stopped accepting those applications on November 29, 2024. Applications received before the pause continue to be processed on a first-in basis.

IRCC’s guidance on the pause says eligible family members can be added to pre-pause applications as a change to an existing case. Applications under the One Year Window of opportunity program are not affected.

The pause is scheduled to continue through December 31, 2026. That date does not confirm that intake will resume afterward; IRCC has not confirmed whether new applications will reopen then.

Existing sponsors and BVOR remain routes to check

Some options remain available while the pause continues:

• Existing Sponsorship Agreement Holders: Existing SAHs may submit applications within the 2026 cap of 5,000 spaces and their individual allocations. There is no 2026 intake window for organizations seeking to become new SAHs.
• Groups of Five and Community Sponsors: Groups of Five and Community Sponsors may consider the Blended Visa Office-Referred program, or BVOR. It covers refugees referred through the program, not a general route for sponsors to nominate someone they choose.
• BVOR support: Private sponsors provide six months of financial support for living costs and one-time start-up expenses, plus 12 months of social, emotional and settlement support. The government provides the other six months of financial assistance through the Resettlement Assistance Program.

The new plan changes the intended balance between private and government resettlement, not the pause rules for sponsor applications. Prospective sponsors should check IRCC’s latest pause and BVOR notices and confirm capacity with an eligible Sponsorship Agreement Holder before choosing a route.