Forward Regulatory Plan: 2021 to 2023
Regulations amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Refugee Resettlement Program, Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program)

Enabling Act: Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

Description

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is proposing a regulatory package to undertake various amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations to strengthen the Private Sponsorship of Refugees program. These amendments would address the department’s ability to address program integrity risks, clarify program requirements and enable processing efficiencies.

Firstly, amendments are being proposed to address numerous program integrity issues with the Private Sponsorship of Refugees program which have been identified during recent program monitoring activities, which, if left unattended, leave the program open to fraud, exploitation, and the department to potential legal risk.

Amendments to the following regulations are being proposed:

• R.138 Definitions
• R.139(1) General Requirements
• R.153(1)(4) End of default
• R.154(1) Approval of application
• R.156(1) Ineligibility to be a party to a sponsorship

The amendments introduce:

• Tighter sponsor eligibility criteria and expanded ineligibility criteria as a means to ensure only those with honest intentions and the required capacity are able to access the program
• New definitions of sponsorship breakdown and sponsor default, which would clarify authorities for the department to implement disciplinary measures for individuals who fail to meet program requirements
• Clarification that profiting from the sponsorship of a refugee or person in similar circumstances is prohibited, and to stipulate the amount the sponsor/group is allowed to receive/hold back as an administrative fee
• Authority for the department to enter into an information sharing agreement with the Canada Revenue Agency to access tax records of potential sponsors in order to independently verify the income of program applicants

Secondly, other amendments are being proposed to address fairness issues related to program access, while others complement an anticipated legislative amendment to control application intake in the program, which would allow for more predictable processing times and streamline rules for the various sponsorship streams.

Amendments to the following regulations are being proposed:

• R.153(1) Sponsorship requirements

Thirdly, this regulatory package would include any consequential amendments stemming from the above noted changes.

Regulatory cooperation efforts (domestic and international)

The proposed regulatory amendments will not require regulatory cooperation with domestic or international partners, though IRCC has consulted with the Province of Quebec to ensure any possibilities for alignment of federal and Quebec resettlement programming is leveraged.

Potential impacts on Canadians, including businesses

The proposed regulatory changes would impact Canadian citizens and permanent residents who wish to sponsor a refugee under the program. They would also impact individuals, including consultants, who currently exploit a regulatory loophole in order to profit from the program. In this way, the regulatory changes will also prevent a known means by which some refugees/future permanent residents, are being exploited, which could impact their settlement outcomes. Improved settlement outcomes will benefit Canadian businesses/employers in the long run.

Consultations

The amendment remains in the exploratory stages, however, consultation through the Canada Gazette is anticipated, as well as targeted consultations with key stakeholders (Sponsorship Agreement Holders Council, The Canadian Council For Refugees).

Further Information

Internal program compliance data and analysis would be used to support this regulatory initiative. Consideration will need to be given to the public release of such data and analysis to stakeholders given potential private concerns.

Departmental contact information

Melissa Fama
Director, Refugee Affairs
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Email: Melissa.Fama@cic.gc.ca
Telephone: (613) 858-7044

Date the regulatory initiative was first included in the Forward Regulatory Plan: April 1, 2021