• Replace public, government-assisted refugee places with more private and joint sponsorship places. All refugees arriving in Canada will do so under private or joint sponsorship programs, with exceptions in cases of emergency or specific programs (such as the human rights defenders program discussed below).
° This does not mean a reduced financial commitment to refugee sponsorship or lower overall numbers of protected persons. It means that public dollars will be directed through joint sponsorship programs where newcomers benefit from community support and the better outcomes associated with private sponsorship.
° Moving from “private” and “public” sponsorship streams to “private” and “joint” sponsorship streams ensures every refugee family arriving in Canada will do so with a group of dedicated and motivated Canadians, ready to make them feel welcome.
° This also ensures that private sponsors will not always have to bear the full costs of sponsorship, allowing them to help more refugees.
• These changes will revolutionize the experience of compassionate organizations conducting private refugee sponsorship. Sponsors will spend more time helping people in distress with more government support and less government hassle.
When it comes to financial allocations for joint sponsorships, Conservatives will prioritize the following categories:
• Support delivered to the most vulnerable.
• Support delivered through sponsorship agreement holders with a demonstrable track record of successfully integrating refugees.
• Support delivered through a new, specialized, “human rights defender” stream, welcoming human rights advocates such as notable Hong Kong protestors who are particularly vulnerable in their home country as a result of their willingness to stand up for the rights of others.
Canada’s Conservatives have a proud record of assisting the world’s most vulnerable refugees, including our pioneering assistance to LGBTQ+ people, especially from Iran, who would otherwise face a death sentence.
• Canada’s Conservatives will make the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Project a permanent government program. We will work with LGBTQ+ organizations in Canada to encourage and facilitate greater participation by these organizations in refugee sponsorship, and we will lead a global network of free countries to assist the world’s persecuted sexual minorities.
