Welcoming the Stranger to Canada Survey 2021

Canada is one of very few countries in which private citizens and groups can and do sponsor refugees looking for a safe country in which to settle and start a new life (this is above and beyond refugee settlement handled directly through government agencies).

Private refugee sponsorship started in the late 1970s in response to the burgeoning flow of refugees from Southeast Asia. In the past few years, Canadians across the country have stepped up to help sponsor refugees fleeing the ongoing conflict in Syria, accounting for roughly half of the 50,000 who settled in Canada since 2015.

Most refugees settling in Canada through the private stream are sponsored by family members or relatives already living in the country. Others are sponsored through the Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR) program, which the federal government established in 2013 to facilitate the resettlement of vulnerable refugees. In these cases, Canadians volunteer to sponsor refugees with whom they have no prior connection - to "welcome the stranger."

Unlike the private sponsorship of known individuals who are friends and family, the BVOR program relies on volunteers who know about the program and choose to step up to help. While the program became widely popular in 2015-16 during the federal government's Operation Syrian Refugee campaign, it has not been fully subscribed. At present, there is no active promotion of the BVOR program among Canadians, nor has there been any research to identify the potential market for private refugee sponsorship.

To address this knowledge gap, the Environics Institute is partnering with Refugee613 (an Ottawa-based refugee settlement organization) to conduct the first-ever national market study of refugee private sponsorship in Canada. This research will identify the types of Canadians with the greatest interest and capacity to become private refugee sponsors, and generate insights to guide new initiatives to promote the BVOR program and support recruitment. 

The research entails a national survey conducted online with a representative sample of Canadians (25 years and over). The survey was completed in February 2021, and the results will be published in May.

This research is possible in part through funding provided by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

For more information:  Keith Neuman