The federal government’s 2027 immigration levels plan increases the number of privately sponsored refugees eligible for permanent residency while reducing eligibility for government-sponsored refugees through 2029.
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Canada’s 2027 immigration levels plan sets out annual permanent residency targets to 2029 that include about 29,000 refugees and another 20,000 protected persons and family members.
Within those totals, privately sponsored refugees eligible for permanent residency are slated to rise to 17,500 in the 2027 levels from 16,000 in the prior year.
Over the same period, the number of government-sponsored refugees eligible for permanent residency is expected to fall to just under 12,000 from more than 13,000.
The plan notes that groups who privately sponsor refugees help them find housing and get established while providing food, rent, clothing and other essentials for their first year in Canada.
Renze Nauta, a program director for the non-partisan think tank Cardus, said increasing the privately sponsored number is positive because privately sponsored refugees tend to be more successful at integration than people aided by the government.
Lauren Lallemand, co-executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said the shift toward privately sponsored refugees suggests the government is off-loading its responsibility onto civil society groups.
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