1976
The 1976 Immigration Act was a milestone in Canada’s response to refugees, establishing “refugees” as a class distinct from immigrants. The “Boat People” crisis of the late 70s and early 80s mobilized Canadians to respond. For the first time, ordinary people across the country became involved in assisting refugees to settle in Canada through private sponsorship, changing forever the way Canadians would view their role in Canada’s resettlement program.
1978
With the creation and implementation of the Immigration Act, Canadians were given a mechanism that introduced private sponsorship and allowed for individuals to be involved in resettling refugees.
1979-80
The mass exodus of South East Asian people throughout the 1970’s saw over 60,000 refugees resettled in Canada in 1979 and 1980, some 34,000 of whom were privately sponsored.
1986
The UNHCR awarded the Nansen medal to the People of Canada in “recognition of their major and sustained contribution to the cause of refugees”.
1994
The creation of the Non-Government Organization-Government Committee on the Private Sponsorship of Refugees provided an opportunity for those involved in sponsorship to come together and discuss policies and operational issues.
1994-1998
Project FOCUS Afghanistan brought nearly 1,800 Afghan refugees to Canada through private sponsorship. This marked the first time government and private resources were blended.
1997
The Negotiation of a new Sponsorship Agreement occurred replacing the original.
1998
With the introduction of the Humanitarian Designated Classes the number of those who were eligible for resettlement increased greatly.
1999
Under the UNHCR’s Humanitarian Evacuation Program, over 7,000 Kosovar refugees evacuated from Macedonia were resettled in Canada.
2002
The Introduction of Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) allowed for greater flexibility and access to private sponsorship.
2009
The year 2009 marked the 30th anniversary of the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program. At this point over 200,000 refugees had arrived in Canada through the PSR program.
2010
Over the years private sponsorship had trended more towards a mechanism for family reunification which lead to reduced involvement by the churches. Government changes to legislation shifts PSR away from these “paper sponsorships”.
2012
New rules which allowed for the Minister to limit how many refugees each SAH could submit in a year became part of the new SAH Agreement
2012
2012 has seen some of the lowest numbers of actual resettlement in over a decade. The total number of resettled refugees, both Government Assisted Refugees (GAR) and Privately Sponsored Refugees (PSR), has dropped due to a combination of factors. These include the way the Government of Canada is attempting to deal with the backlog of refugees in the system, the forced closing of the Damascus visa office, and serious security concerns that disrupted operations throughout Africa.
2014
As the world faces unprecedented numbers of refugees, nearly 17 million. The UNHCR asks Canada to help them resettle 100,000 Syrian refugees over the next two years, Canada promises to bring 1,300 Syrian refugees by year end.
2015
After the picture of Alan Kurdi's death gained massive public attention, tens of thousands of Canadians wanted to take part in PSR. The Government of Canada pledged to bring in 35,000 Syrian refugees.
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2016
The UNHCR reports over 65 million forcibly displace people around the world, over 22 million of who are refugees.
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2017
As of the end on January over 40,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada since November 2015. Canadian communities continue to commit helping refugees from around the world.
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