Canada will accept more refugees
The Department of Immigration has launched new asylum initiatives.
There has been a real refugee crisis in the world lately, with millions of people leaving their home countries and looking for a safer place to live. Canada has asylum programs for people who, for whatever reason, cannot live in their home country.
On the eve of World Refugee Day, which was June 20, Canada's Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino announced new initiatives to help people seeking asylum. They will complement existing programs — thus giving the country the opportunity to move even more people in need.
Economic mobility
This pilot program was launched in 2018. Through it, refugees who have certain skills can obtain permanent residence through economic immigration programs. Mendicino announced that the country will accept 500 refugees under the economic mobility program. They will have several advantages when applying for permanent residency:
- expedited processing of applications;
- facilitated receipt of material support;
- no application processing fee;
- a more flexible application process;
- assistance with medical examinations for immigration.
Protected Persons in Canada
So-called protected persons are people who are in Canada and cannot return to their country because they are at risk of persecution or harm because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, political opinion, etc.
In 2021, Canada is increasing the quota for new protected persons in the country from 23,500 to 45,000. The processing of CPR applications will also be accelerated. More than 40,000 protected persons and their families are currently waiting for their applications to be processed. In 2021, 17,900 persons have already become permanent residents.
Private sponsorship
This program allows Canadian citizens and residents to sponsor the relocation of refugees from abroad. Sponsors are often charitable organizations, religious and ethnic communities. The private sponsorship program was started over 50 years ago and has helped Canada accept over 350,000 refugees.
The Department of Immigration has launched a national call for proposals to improve support for private sponsors and ensure that refugees make full use of the assistance offered to them. Up to $3 million CAD will be allocated over 2 years to support 9 organizations that sponsor refugees.
During the pandemic, Canada remained one of the few countries that did not stop providing asylum. In 2020, Canada hosted 9,200 refugees. That is almost half of all the world's refugees resettled in that year.
