​Government of Canada Refugee Sponsorship Programs

Programs for sponsorship of refugees are conducted through the government of Canada. Structure of these programs can change quickly, owing to the occurrence of a crisis somewhere in the world.

The homepage for the Canada Council for Refugees is a toolkit for groups across Canada who choose to sponsor refugees.
http://ccrweb.ca/en/psr-toolkit/home

The toolkit includes:

- Information about program options across the country
- Information about how to prepare an application for sponsors and refugees
- Resources for sponsors and refugees (both pre- and post-arrival)
- Links to other resources
- Information about national and local organizations offering support to  sponsoring groups

Currently, the Canadian government offers two programs for refugee sponsorship:

1. Refugee Sponsorship Program

In this program, a group such as the Creston Refugee Committee, designated as a Constituent Group by the Government of Canada, is required to pay 100% of financial needs of the refugee family for one year. Flow of documents to and from the United Church of Canada, the Sponsorship Agreement holder is enabled with the support of Trinity United Church in Creston. More information about the process can be found in the following links.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/sponsor/list-sponsors.asp_ga=1.12832308.2023131456.1452635812
http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/cic/Ci4-70-2011-eng.pdf

2. Blended Visa Office-Referred Program (BVOR)

In the BVOR program, the constituent group pays 50% and the federal government pays 50% of financial needs of the refugee family for one year.

The following link has more information about the BVOR process.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/sponsor/vor.asp

Detailed information of Government of Canada agencies and step by step procedures (flow of documents) are shown on the following link.
http://sunriseweb.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Refugee-Sponsorship-Path-BVOR.pdf

Pretty much all the communication that the Creston Refugee Committee (the Constituent Group (CG)) regarding sponsorship arrangement is made with the Sponsorship Agreement holder (SAH), which, in our case is the United Church of Canada, head office, Toronto. Communication is done through the United Church (SAH) and is similar for the above two programs.

To date, all but one of the refugee families were brought to Creston under the Refugee Sponsorship Program. The only family sponsored under the BVOR program has been the family from Kachin province, Myanmar. This family came to Creston in December 2014.

After submitting our application, the Creston Refugee Committee has no way of inquiring into the status of the application.

Donations can be made by mail to:
                                                       Trinity United Church
                                                                    Box 87
                                                                Creston B.C.
                                                                    V0B 1G0
Please write: "for Creston Refugee Committee" on memo line on your cheque.
 If you wish to be sent an income tax receipt, please include your return address. Thankyou!